March 17, 2024
By KAREN VELIE
An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people gathered near the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus on Saturday morning for the annual Saint Fratty’s Day celebration. Students damaged dorms, broke glass and left trash throughout the area.
Beginning at about 3 a.m. on Saturday, a large group of primarily Cal Poly students gathered near the intersection of California Boulevard and Hathway Avenue. Students passed around plastic jugs filled with alcohol, played loud music and danced in the street.
Dozens of officers attempted to keep the crowd under control. They poured jugs of alcohol in gutters and arrested people for a variety of offenses.
During the morning, revelers broke mutiple car windows. The owner of one sedan posted, “Please do not climb” on his windshield along with a warning that the car was under surveillance. Even so, revelers shattered the cars front window.
At the campus, students damaged mutiple dorms, including Muir Hall. Campus officials temporarily evacuated Muir Hall in order to do repairs and cleanup.
“I’m disappointed and disgusted as I write to you today about the behavior that some of our students and campus visitors displayed when they took part in early morning St. Patrick’s Day partying that caused significant damage to Muir Hall and several other University Housing facilities,” President Jeffrey Armstrong wrote in an email.
Between midnight and 1 p.m. on Saturday, San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly officers made 11 arrests for charges, including public intoxication, DUI, resisting an officer, possession of an open container and climbing on a pole designed to support wires, according to SLO County Jail logs.
- Bennett Manning Pearce, 21, climbing on a pole designed to support wires
- Dylan Blake Zorn, 19, public intoxication
- Ashley Nicole Wilson, 19, DUI
- Ronan Michael O’Sullivan, 20, public intoxication
- Aidan Paul Lear, 20, climbing on a pole designed to support wires
- Joshua Anthony Harkey, 22, climbing on a pole designed to support wires
- Solomon Fix, 22, resist or obstruct an officer
- Camden Becker Fix, 20, resist or obstruct an officer and possession of an open container
- Noah Fan, 21, climbing on a pole designed to support wires
- Kyle Robert Crossman, 22, public intoxication
- Thomas Patrick Callahan, 21, public intoxication and resisting or obstructing an officer
By 11 a.m., must of the revelers had dispersed though some were passed out on the ground while others dined at local restaurants.
