Editor’s note: The name of the MSU student in this story has been changed to protect his identity.
John Hepburn wasn’t a fighter until he came to MSU. When Hepburn was in middle school, he was beaten up several times, but never fought back. In the fall of 2007, when he was a freshman, he came face to face with someone at a house party who had assaulted him when he was younger.
This time, he didn’t hold back.
The two traded punches, but eventually someone at the party stopped the fight before serious damage could be done to either one of them.
Since then, he’s been involved in at least seven brawls — all of which happened during nights of drinking and partying.
Hepburn, who asked to use an alias to protect his identity, said he never goes out expecting to be involved in a fight. If he had been sober, he likely would walk away before engaging in any altercations, he said. But alcohol takes away that fear.
“After you’ve had a couple of shots mixed with a few beers, you feel no one can hurt you,” Hepburn said.
Fights near MSU are not out of the ordinary.
The East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, has handled between 46 and 145 serious assaults each year for the past five years.
Most have two common factors: parties and booze.
With two high-profile assaults since the semester began, there has been talk across campus about whether violence is an issue in the community.
While the assaults involving journalism sophomore Zachary Tennen and advertising junior Brandon Carmack had somewhat out-of-the-ordinary outcomes, they both occurred at parties or social events when alcohol was involved, both common factors in East Lansing’s average aggravated assault, or an assault that causes serious personal injury or great bodily harm.
ELPD reports show 46 aggravated assaults occurred off campus in 2011, a decrease of more than 66 from 2010.
Although ELPD Capt. Bill Mitchell was unable to explain why there was a change, he did say it could be linked to the unpredictable nature of fights in the community.
When people host a party, they usually don’t expect it will get out of hand to the point where they cannot control the situation. Police say because assaults related to alcohol are so sporadic, the number of aggravated assaults reported each year are sporadic as well.
How to respond
Mitchell said the ELPD often gets calls from students who want assistance breaking up parties that have gotten out of hand. In such cases, the ELPD is not looking to give out minor in possession, or MIP, charges.
Instead, they just want to help clear out the party.
“If someone is injured, our first concern is getting their injuries and welfare taken care of by getting them to the hospital,” Mitchell said. “As we’ve seen so far this fall, there have been a number of assaults that have been quite serious with the injuries — jaws broken and wired shut, eye sockets broken and stuff like that.”
Hepburn said most of the fights he’s been involved with have not resulted in serious injuries to his enemies, so he does not usually call the police.
“I would only call the police if it were the worst-case scenario (or) last resort,” Hepburn said. “I usually try to leave the police out of it.”
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MSU offers self-defense courses and community programs to teach people how to handle potential threats.
Kevin Hendrickson, a self-defense instructor for Recreational Sports and Fitness Services on campus, said he teaches his students how to impair an attacker long enough to escape a threatening situation.
Although his class primarily focuses on sexual assaults from strangers, many of the maneuvers are similar when facing an attacker at a party.
When people are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it might be very difficult to reason with them and de-escalate a situation, he said.
In those cases, it often is best to get out of the dangerous situation before being attacked.
Hendrickson said if someone is being attacked, wrist releases and side steps are best to avoid being hit or hurt by an attacker.
“Eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus (or the nerves right below the rib cage), testicles and knees are the six targets we consider the easiest to get to,” Hendrickson said. “They’re quick if you do any damage to them, and while they’re in pain, you can run away.”
Spreading the word
East Lansing bars also have developed ways to deal with assaults or fights related to alcohol.
The Responsible Hospitality Council, or RHC, is a network of 17 restaurants and bars in East Lansing that meets about once a month with a police liaison and a representative from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to discuss solutions to common problems related to bar restaurants.
The RHC developed a system for spreading the word about threatening situations and assaults, said Rick Lauer, assistant general manager for Dublin Square Irish Pub, 327 Abbot Road.
“If someone is ejected at our bar for causing some trouble, we get to our phone tree and call the bar to describe what they look like so they can’t make trouble in another bar,” Lauer said.
Lauer said many bars in the association also have bouncers or security to look for potential problems before fights occur in the businesses and on the streets near the establishments.
“We might be in competition with each other, but we all have a common goal of making sure people have fun and get home safe.”
To read a blog about self-defense safety tips, click here.
