Whether uphill or downhill, off-campus or on-campus, abroad or not, the Boston Red Sox rise to the World Series Championship caused excitement for most Tufts students, either through joy or through pain.
With substantial student populations from both Mass. and the N.Y./ N. J. area, Tufts is no stranger to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
Early in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) between the two teams, the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) increased the police presence on campus in the hopes of preventing gatherings of students like one last fall which required six TUPD cruisers and a prisoner transport vehicle to disband.
There were several minor incidents of ALCS-related vandalism this semester as well, including a spray painted "Yankees Suck!" slogan on a Hill Hall parking lot dumpster.
While there were gatherings of students after both the ALCS and World Series victories for the Red Sox, TUPD reported few issues with them.
One incident resulted in the arrest of a Tufts student. During a gathering of about 500 students on Packard Ave. after the Red Sox World Series victory, a fight broke out between two male students next to Mugar Hall. When a TUPD officer tried to pull sophomore Peter Maher off of the other student involved, Maher struck the officer in the face.
Tufts students studying and celebrating the victories abroad often found themselves alone in their foreign countries, often dominated by Yankees fans. "This was my one fear about studying abroad," junior Nate Papazian said from London. "That this would be the year the Red Sox won. And here they are in the World Series."
Maher was arraigned Tuesday morning in Somerville District Court for assault and battery of a police officer. A trial date was set for Sept. 7, 2005, The judge granted Maher pre-trial probation until that date and mandated that Maher take an alcohol abuse course at Tufts.
