By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Although Spring Splash — the maligned, college student-geared event — will not take place in Whitewater this year, city officials continue to review protocol for similar activities that could occur the last weekend in April.
Since 2013, a for-profit company known as Wisconsin Red has organized a Spring Splash event in Whitewater, much as it does in other communities across the state with a strong university presence.
But after a series of unruly incidents last year, Wisconsin Red officials last month announced Spring Splash will not return to Whitewater — at least for this year.
April 29 was pegged as the date for this year’s Spring Splash. While it has been removed from the calendar, city officials said other large-scale events could take place within the community that same weekend.
Several officials addressed the Common Council on March 7 with an update of how the city will attempt to address any of this year’s end-of-semester festivities in a proactive, rather than reactive, manner.
City Manager Cameron Clapper, city Police Chief Lisa Otterbacher and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater representative Jan Bilgen Craggs have been at the helm of the proactive efforts. Bilgen Craggs also helms the city’s Police and Fire Commission.
In its first three iterations, Spring Splash went off without a hitch in Whitewater. But last year’s event was, at times, characterized as mob-like and filled with chaos and disruption.
As city officials parsed out the root causes of last year’s problems, much of the blame went toward ancillary events that piggy-backed off the draw of Spring Splash. Many of the offenders were not believed to have been University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students.
As she discussed law enforcement response the last weekend of April, Otterbacher said her department and a number of partnering organizations will have an “all hands on deck” approach to ensuring the city is safe and orderly.
“We accept that we live in a university town,” Otterbacher said. “But we do not accept mob rule.”
The Whitewater Police Department is teaming up with UW-Whitewater’s campus police department, the Whitewater Fire Department and the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department.
Clapper said his intent is to ensure no residents are caught off guard this year. Letters on municipal letterhead will soon be sent to all residents within the community with information on the potential end-of-semester activities and what steps the city is taking to ensure safety.
Additionally, Clapper said information on the city’s precautionary measures will be posted on the city’s website, www.whitewater-wi.gov.
While there has not been any dispute over the seriousness of last year’s incidents, city officials have been sharply divided over some of the rhetoric in the aftermath of last year’s Spring Splash.
At a meeting last month, council member Stephanie Goettl, who is a former UW-Whitewater student, said she was disheartened to hear Wisconsin Red was canceling Spring Splash and expressed concern negative situations could be even greater this year.
“As soon as people heard on the rumor mill that Spring Splash was canceled, they started planning other large-scale parties,” Goettl said. “Wisconsin Red’s party was not the problem. It was well-controlled, and they cleaned up when they were done.”
But fellow council member Chris Grady maintained a different perspective.
“This is not anti-student,” Grady said of the scenario at hand. “This is anti-mob and anti-insanity.”
