City government officials on both statewide and local levels agree that the independent commission reviewing the April 2-3 disturbances is comprehensive enough to render an accurate portrait of the evening's events.
All commission members must be committed to finding the truth, said Dorothy Verkerk, a Chapel Hill, N.C., town council member. The commission must view all of the available evidence and investigate both the police and those involved in the disturbances, she added.
"The commission needs to know what the experience was like on the streets," she said. "That should give them some good information. I'm sure the mayor doesn't want a repeat of this."
In Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina, nearly 45,000 people overran parts of the city when the men's basketball team won the NCAA Championship. Police did not use force on people in the area, and minimal property damage was reported.
"We are a town of 50,000 people - when we won, 45,000 people were in the downtown," Verkerk said. "I was struck by the celebratory attitude the police had. There was nothing confrontational about it."
Some, however, do not feel the commission is truly independent.
"One of the things the University Student Commission asked for was a totally independent commission," ASMSU Chairperson and commission member Andrew Schepers said. "The City Council was not in favor of that. We had to take the most independent group we could get.
"To find out what really happened, you would need someone totally independent of the process."
Many who were out during the night of the disturbance in East Lansing said police acted with excessive force when teargassing or pepper-spraying people. Public unrest in meetings held on campus and at East Lansing City Hall led the City Council to call for an independent investigation into police actions.
After the men's basketball team's loss to UNC, police estimated that about 3,000 people took to East Lansing streets, causing $5,775 in property damage. Police stationed throughout the area used tear gas to gain control of crowds.
Other municipal administrators agree that having a diverse group of people reviewing the disturbance is good.
"It's important that there be a good cross section of the community involved," said Bill Mathewson, general counsel to the Michigan Municipal League, which oversees cities and villages statewide. "You need a truly objective review of the facts.
"If that is accomplished then the input the commission provides will be credible and valuable."
A diverse group of commissioners will reach local law enforcement agencies, businesses, students and MSU officials, Mathewson said.
"You can't ignore any element of the broader community," he said.
Commission members were chosen by East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows, who is also head of the independent commission.
After compiling a list of groups who might have an interest in creating a final report for the council, Meadows said he contacted various officials in the area.
"I think we have got a group that represents all of the interests," he said. "No group is dominant on this commission, and there are a lot of fair-minded people.
"If the City Council had not agreed with them, they would have told me so."
Kris Turner can be reached at turne112@msu.edu.
