The Oswego community is looking to prevent another tragedy on the last day of class for SUNY Oswego seniors. Last year, a student died of a heroin overdose on the same day as the annual bar crawl called the Bridge Street Run. Elizabeth Jeneault has the story.
OSWEGO, N.Y. -- While Bridge Street will likely be filled with some seniors wearing white T-shirts and bouncing from bar to bar on the last day of class, this year there's another way to celebrate the end of the year. A festival called OzFest, featuring a concert with big name acts, like Big Sean.
"Given the circumstances of the Bridge Street Run and the incidents in the past it made sense for us to model it towards owning an end of the year celebration," said Tucker Shotles, the former president of the SUNY Oswego Student Association.
But the association and police realize some people will still participate in the Bridge Street Run. That's why they've been working together to spread the word about making smart decisions on the last day of class.
"We've been talking to them about things like how to not attract police attention," said Oswego Police Department Lt. Zachary Misztal. "How to intermingle in their community and be able to enjoy themselves and what Oswego has to offer and to not disrupt people at the same time."
"This is our community and we want to take care of our community and respect everybody within our community," said Christopher Collins-McNeil, president of the SUNY Oswego Student Association.
Officials are also planning on having a larger police presence in the Bridge Street area on May 8 than in previous years.
"We'll have officers on foot posts, we'll have ATVs, we'll have marked cars," said Misztal. "We'll be utilizing all the resources that we have available to us."
All efforts and initiatives to help make sure that those celebrating a major milestone in their lives will do so without incident.