Police presence planned for night of previous Mirror Lake jumps

Daniel Smyth
Tue, 22 Nov 2016 04:57:29 +0000
Area, Campus, Crime, Local, featured, increased policing, mirror lake, mirror lake jump, no mirror lake jump, police, undergraduate student government, usg

Although Mirror Lake is drained, University Police still plan to have an increased presence on campus Tuesday night. Credit: Kevin Stankiewicz | Oller Reporter

Although the Mirror Lake jump will not take place this year, the Ohio State Department of Public Safety is still preparing to have an increased police presence on campus Tuesday night and throughout the week leading up to the OSU-Michigan game.

During last year’s jump, Austin Singletary, a third-year in human nutrition, died after sustaining injuries after jumping into Mirror Lake, resulting in an announcement by the university to ban the jump.

OSU has said that although the renovations, which include sloping marshes around the lake’s edge, will effectively end the jump — a goal of the university — the purpose is to restore the lake to its historic likeness and make the lake more sustainable.

“Law enforcement and public safety from Ohio State and Columbus will be working closely all week to support an atmosphere where Beat Michigan Week gatherings are safe and responsible,” said OSU spokesman Chris Davey. “As always, our top priority is the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff.”

Davey did not give details of any plans for University Police or estimates of how many officers would be on duty.

In years past, students have knocked down the fences — put up as part of crowd-control efforts, not construction — in order to jump in the lake.?Gerard Basalla, Undergraduate Student Government president and a fourth-year in political science and strategic communication, said he didn’t think that would be an issue this year.

“I don’t have any concerns about students knocking down fences, purely because there has been a lot of messaging why the Mirror Lake jump was canceled,” Basalla said.