Local police department officials and University representatives encouraged students to be aware of the potential risks and consequences that go along with participating in Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day at a joint press conference Tuesday morning.

At the press conference, Renee Romano, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the University is discouraging students from participating in the event, but if students choose to participate, they need to be aware of the consequences. She reminded students that they will be held for responsible for disruptive behavior as a result of alcohol or drug consumption, in accordance with the Student Code. 

“We communicate directly with students in a number of ways,” Romano said, referring to emails and other types of communication. “We encourage them to be safe.”

Lt. Jim Clark of the Champaign Police Department said that 115 additional police officers will be on duty in the campus area March 1.

“Our primary concern for Unofficial (on) Friday is dealing with public safety,” Clark said.

He said there are three specific concerns that the department has about the event: pedestrian safety, private parties and private property damage.

Clark said local police departments also launched a social media campaign Monday, reaching out to students with safety messages. He said he is hoping to “blast the message out there to students that are following our Twitter feeds,” in an attempt to encourage the public to be safe.

The Champaign Community Coalition held the first “Walk as One” event Feb. 20 to educate students about responsible drinking and Unofficial policies.

“We knocked on about 2,900 doors distributing safety information,” Clark said. “In addition to knocking on the doors, we emailed that same information to about 15,000 people.” 

Champaign Police spokeswoman Rene Dunn said the University has been running a campaign to raise awareness about Unofficial, with the tagline “Think and rethink the drink.” Dunn said the campaign focuses on drinking responsibly during the event. 

Despite the fact that many Unofficial participants do not attend the University, Romano said they will still be subject to the same policies as University students.

“Over the years, consistently 60-65 percent of those arrested or receiving notices to appear have not been our students,” she said. “However, the University does use whatever systems we have in place, such as our judicial system.”

Carina can be reached at [email protected].