‘A concoction of disaster’: Inside the CT post-win riot at UConn Storrs

Minutes after the University of Connecticut Huskies secured their fifth NCAA men’s basketball title, the blare of a fire alarm jolted Badreldin Ahmed from his classroom viewing party, sending the small group of students and an after-hours cleaning crew scrambling for the exit of the Storrs Information Technologies Engineering Building.

As the roar of revelers departing UConn’s Gampel Pavilion grew louder, an uprooted light pole plunged through the glass windows of the lab where Ahmed, a senior, had just finished up a late-night shift.

“If we were still in there, I don’t know what the hell would’ve happened,” Ahmed said, “You could hear the ruckus and all the commotion that was happening. A couple of the kids that broke in, you could clearly smell the alcohol running out of them because they were running circles around the first floor. … The police, at the end, came and lined the doors from the front and back to not let anybody break in. With the amount of students that were there, the fire department couldn’t even try to get through, they had to keep honking.”

“It was just crazy how it goes from school pride to rioting all of a sudden.”

Ahmed’s encounter was just a slice of the chaos that overtook UConn’s campus after Monday’s NCAA victory sent 15,000 celebrants into the streets for a night of rampage that ended in 15 arrests, 16 hospitalizations and an untold amount of property damage.

On Thursday University Safety warned that more arrests are imminent in a message that encouraged students to fess up and face charges.

That same day, an email from UConn President Radenka Maric, the provost and the vice president for student affairs warned of expulsions for vandals and decried the criminal behavior that unfolded on social media for the world to see.

For many who watched the destruction on cell phone and computer screens, the lawless celebration at UConn was as condemnable as it was perplexing. Others understood.

With a shrug, Ahmed boiled the riot down to a simple equation.

“Stupidity, plus youth, plus alcohol, equals a concoction of disaster.”

Damage and arrests

University of Connecticut Police announced Thursday that the department has secured social media and security camera footage as evidence for the ongoing investigation into the destructive celebrations.

UCPD said that many of the images “are in high resolution and the individuals in them can be seen clearly.”

“We are offering an opportunity to those who may have engaged in criminal activity to proactively contact police investigators to provide their information and describe their conduct,” the statement said. “To be clear: This is not an amnesty program. If the conduct you relate to police investigators is deemed a crime, they will apply for an arrest warrant and, if approved, you will be arrested. If you are a UConn student, the arrest information will be shared with the University.”

In a joint statement to the UConn community Thursday, President Maric said that the arrests could continue for days or even weeks, adding that “any student found to have caused damage to the campus or otherwise violated the student code of conduct will also face university sanctions up to and including expulsion.”

“The vast majority of our students and visitors celebrated in a way that was safe, fun, and good-natured. They did nothing wrong. However, a relatively small number put themselves and others in danger, and in some cases actually injured people, by vandalizing parts of the Storrs campus. In addition to being wrong, their actions embarrassed our men’s basketball program, our university, our state, and themselves,” the statement said. “That anyone would ‘celebrate’ their team winning the NCAA tournament by vandalizing that team’s campus, and their own, is infuriating, unacceptable, and perplexing.”

An unverified list compiled by student surveyors on social media documented damage to 32 signs, 28 lamp posts, six campus buildings, and an overturned UConn Transportation Services van.

While UConn has yet to release an official tally of the destruction, the statement from university officials described repair and replacement costs as “extensive,” adding that damage “will consume funds that could otherwise be used to meet the needs of our students.”

According to University Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz, it took 55 UCPD officers and 35 Connecticut State Police troopers two hours to disperse the crowds and an additional hour to manage remaining incidents.

Planning and police

Reitz said UConn police, state police and divisional and university partners began planning for a possible championship presence in mid-March when a Final Four run appeared imminent.

But as the Huskies edged closer to the crown, students began making their own plans.

Student social media pages and anonymous forums shared stories from the 2014 championship celebrations that, according to Reitz, resulted in $17,000 of damage to the university which “consisted primarily of a broken light pole, broken window in a classroom building, and various kinds of smaller damage and debris cleanup.”

Other users laid out a preliminary set of rules for what students already were referring to as the upcoming “riot.” One advised students against destroying personal or private property. When someone commented “What if the light post is already loose?” The original poster clarified saying, “Light posts are public property, therefore I do not care.”

When the moment finally arrived, students said disorder rushed over the crowd almost instantly. Downed light poles and traffic signs hovered over the heads of celebrants exiting Gampel, welcoming the masses into a jeering environment where the laws didn’t seem to apply.

“I think there were so many people there that they were thinking, ‘You know, they can’t punish every single person that does something,’” Ryann Christine, a freshman who was among those watching the game at Gampel, said. “I think the lack of consequence was probably going through their heads.”

Among those injured in the chaos was a UConn student who was knocked out cold when a falling lamppost sent him sprawling onto the pavement. Other videos captured students climbing onto roofs, lighting fires, and taking bats to bus shelters. Perhaps one of the most enduring scenes of the night was when a group smashed through the Student Union’s glass vestibule using a lamppost as a battering ram.

As freshman Ilana Soyfer watched Monday’s mayhem, she said she could not help but think “Why did you destroy our campus?”

“Looking at it now, it’s even more so the fact of why are you destroying your own school?” Soyfer said.

‘Storrs put the madness in March Madness’

As junior Kyle Garab watched UConn Nation storm the floor of Gampel for the final buzzer of the 2023 season, Garab knew it was a moment he and his classmates would cherish for the rest of their lives.

“Some people go to UConn for the Greek life. Some people go to UConn for the big school atmosphere. Some people go because it’s close to home. I transferred to UConn solely for the basketball teams,” Garab said. “This has just been out of this world, incredible.”

As the arena cleared out, Garab soon found himself tossed into the flooded streets, watching the celebratory havoc unleash around him.

“I kind of knew it was coming and I kind of knew it would be like this, but to actually see it with my own eyes was a shock,” Garab said. “Almost every light post was ripped down. Lampposts were going straight into the glass windows of the buildings, stop signs were getting torn down. There were fires with foam fingers. People were throwing stuff in the air and blaring music. It was just a once in a lifetime experience.”

For Garab, the energy that enveloped the masses Monday night could only be understood by those celebrating the win who felt as though they were “A part of what just happened.”

“You can’t really know what the feeling is like until it actually happens to you. Emotions were through the roof and people were going crazy,” Garab added.

“Storrs put the madness in March Madness — that’s how crazy it was.”

Quinnipiac University Psychology Professor Carrie Bulger, said one of the biggest challenges of social psychology is convincing others that “it could always be you.”

“You never can tell when the situation is going to influence you, even in these ways that you think you would never, ever participate in,” Bulger said. “We know from social psychology research that the situation is incredibly powerful and has more impact on how we act, and even how we think, even how we feel, than we realize a lot of times.”

Bulger said the adrenaline-packed excitement of cheering on your favorite team in a crowd-filled stadium can lead to a rush of emotions.

“The whole state of Connecticut was on fire with UConn’s win. Not to mention, UConn alums all over the world,” Bulger said. “Some studies have even shown that testosterone is higher in all people, not just men, but men and women, and that can lead to different kinds of aggression potentially. But I think part of it is just being with other people who are likewise, super, super excited that leads to this potentially destructive behavior.”

Bulger also said the inhibition-lowering powers of alcohol can’t be discounted either.

“Under non-intoxicated situations when we’re excited, most of us are not prone to pull down light poles. But when we have been imbibing and then also cheering on our team, and getting really excited, our decision-making powers are muted,” Bulger said.

Another phenomenon that Bulger said likely contributed to Monday’s events is deindividuation, a term that describes a feeling of anonymity or a perceived inability to be identified in a group.

“It’s one reason that people in groups are more likely to engage in the sort of behavior that we would associate with a mob. Violence or destruction or even just screaming and shouting are much more likely to happen when there’s lots of people around than when there’s just a few people,” Bulger said.

Bulger said the fact that this psychological principle holds even in situations where cell phone cameras and video surveillance are ubiquitous highlights the need for more research on the impact of social media on group dynamics in riot-type scenarios.

“What is it about that situation that still makes you feel anonymous, even though you would realize under normal circumstances that in the 21st century, it’s not really possible to be totally anonymous walking through the world,” Bulger said. She added that at the same time, “If you’re the one being filmed, if you have a sense that you’re on camera, that could amplify that feeling of, ‘Hey, look at me. I’m so awesome. I’m part of this group.’”

Bulger said that it’s no surprise that time and time again, we often only see destructive celebrations associated with sports, where fans refer to themselves and players in the collective “we” of the team.

“You don’t see people doing this after an awesome performance for the spring musical, right?” Bulger laughed. “More so with sports, I think it’s that intense feeling of being a part of something that’s really special…We definitely have that connection with the sports teams that we love.”

A party tradition lost and found

While other students said they anticipated the fallout of Monday’s celebration after learning about past UConn riots via social media, sophomore Olivia Lacombe said she was first clued into the possibility of championship mischief by her father.

“My dad, who works at UConn, was telling me that people flip over cars and set them on fire and burn couches,” sophomore Olivia Lacombe said.

Regardless of the warnings, Lacombe said she remained skeptical – “I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know if that’ll happen.’ But it definitely did.”

In an attempt to avoid the madness, Lacombe and her roommate Madison Gorneault celebrated the Huskies win in their North Campus dorm, but the madness soon found them as the girls awoke to miscreants running past their third-floor window ledge.

“It was terrifying,” they said, laughing. “We were nervous they were gonna knock our windows. Well past the game was over, people were still going.”

The fact that Lacombe and Gorneault refer to their dormitory as “North” is just another example of how the institutional memory of UConn as a party powerhouse has faded for the next generation of students. For decades that same building was known only as “The Jungle” — a place of wild parties and dorm room shenanigans where long ago residents once rode motorcycles through the continuous U-shaped halls.

Like “The Jungle” to “North” rebrand, many remnants of UConn’s past have been stripped from campus consciousness. A massive academic building now looms over the X-lot party spot. The Fraternity Row party houses that once stood in the heart of South Campus are gone. A reference to Kill-A-Keg would be met with a puzzled look from current Carriage House residents.

The cultural overhaul did not occur without reason. A series of tragedies, deaths, and even murder at student celebrations forced UConn to reckon with its party identity and change its reputation.

Many students saw Monday’s championship as a way to channel the energy of a UConn that once was. The alumni who joined in the ‘99, ‘04, ‘11 and ‘14 title celebrations did not see it all as such.

“There was a real kind of general agreement and disappointment about how the buildings were vandalized, especially the co-op (Student Union),” Jeffrey Queiroga, who was a student during the UConn men’s 2004 win, said. “Everybody I went to school with loved the co-op, it was a great building, so that hit people hard, like ‘Man, why would you want to trash the Co-Op.’”

Queiroga said that in his time, students opted to destroy their own possessions. At his off-campus residence in Carriage house, Queiroga said 70-80 apartments dragged their couches into the middle of the street for a third-of-a-mile-long blaze.

“There were kids going around the street, being up late and maybe doing some stupid stuff. But the whole vandalism of the buildings, that wasn’t a thing when I was there in 2004,” Querioga said.

Jason Williams, who celebrated the men’s first championship, said that the police presence was much fiercer in 1999 when youth riot culture seemed to be at its peak.

“That was right around Woodstock ‘99 and when there used to be a lot of Dave Matthews concerts up in Hartford that would have these big riots at the end, so for whatever reason that was like just part of the culture of that time period. … When UConn won everybody came out into the common areas and people brought couches and things and were creating big bonfires,” Williams said. “The relationship with the cops was different then. They were very quick to go to the riot gear and pepper spray and billy clubs in that time period, which I think antagonized the crowd more.”

Looking at the context of the damage done to campus this week, Williams said “It seems so much more foolish now.”

When asked whether UConn will ever see an end to the wild championship celebrations, Williams said, “I do think if they see this success more frequently than the excitement people get might not be quite as great. So it could, it would diminish.

“I’m kind of hoping UConn wins every year and just has a dynasty and it becomes normalized for people, so they’re less inclined to do that,” Williams said. “But that’s probably not gonna happen in college basketball. It’s just too competitive.”