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Long-standing rivalry leads to vandalism

Date 10/31/2002 12:00 AM | Topic: News

Pranks between long-standing rivals, Wartburg College and Luther College, escalated Friday, Oct. 18 to criminal acts committed on both campuses.

Allegedly, the night of Thursday, Oct. 17, students from Luther vandalized 13 locations at Wartburg College with blue spray paint. The victory bell, the Luther Hall sign, and the main Wartburg entrance sign among others were vandalized with markings, most commonly with Luther's "LC" logo.

According to Peter Armstrong, Wartburg College's associate dean for student life, two school vehicles parked at the maintenance building were "spray painted with derogatory words written about Wartburg."

Wartburg security officers found one spray can behind Clinton Hall and a second spray can, identical in color and brand, just outside of Waverly city limits. One of the cans had fingerprints on it and is currently being used to check against the prints of any suspects.

Early Friday morning, Oct. 18, Wartburg security officers reported the vandalism and immediately identified four Luther football players off of Luther College's web-site as the suspected vandals. Captains Bronson Power ('03), Brian Sparby ('03), Jonathan Pettlon ('03) and wide receiver Brock Reed, ('04) were identified by a security officer.

"They just picked us off the Luther football web-site and identified us by our old photographs," said Reed.

According to John Myers III, Wartburg's director of campus security and safety, the security officer who was patroling the night shift, after discovering the vandalism "went around looking at Luther's web-site and found some people on one of the sites that resembled the people he saw earlier."

The security officer who originally identified four football players later changed his opinion and decided that he had only correctly identified Reed and Power. Both were later fingerprinted by the Decorah police department but their fingerprints did not match the fingerprints found on the spray can.

"The security officer at Wartburg decided on second thought that it wasn't me and so I didn't have to get fingerprinted," said Sparby.

President Richard Torgerson, who immediately called Wartburg President Jack Ohle to apologize on Friday morning, was upset by the allegations.

"It was totally inappropriate," said Torgerson in response to the security officer identifying four of Luther's football players off of the year-old Luther football web site as the suspected vandals.

"The investigation between Decorah and Waverly police departments was very thorough," said Ann Highum, vice president and dean for student life. "There is no foundation to the identification of the four football players."

If students are correctly identified and convicted of the crime, Torgerson plans to follow the disciplinary policy in the student handbook.

The total monetary damage of Wartburg's vandelism is estimated at 350 dollars. According Myers the reason the damage cost "is so low is because we were able to catch it so quickly."

Wartburg maintance was able to remove the spray paint early Friday, Oct. 18 morning by using a pressure washer and different solvents.

"I was very disappointed that Luther students would resort to that type of behavior and damage property in this way," said Torgerson.

In article VI of the Luther's student handbook, entitled, "All-College Regulations Governing Student Contact" it states, "although the off-campus activity of individual students is subject to civil and/or criminal action and redress, and the college usually would not exercise jurisdiction, some off-campus actions may so disrupt or interfere with the life of a student or students on-campus that the college reserves the right to initiate disciplinary action."

The night of Friday, Oct. 18, students from Wartburg allegedly retaliated by spray-painting a row of fifteen cars located in the Legends parking lot with the words "Wartburg Knights."

"The cars belonged to football coaches, football players and people who work in Regents," said Highum.

According to the Decorah Police Department, no evidence was discovered at the scene of the crime. Estimates of the total monetary damage caused from the vandalism have not been calculated due to the fact that most people who had their cars vandalized were able to remove the paint themselves.

"We are still following up on it but in all likelihood, it will be very difficult," said Bill Nixon, Decorah police officer, in regards to solving the case.

In response to Wartburg's vandalism acts on Luther campus, Armstrong, said, "Students of ours would be referred to our conduct process, along with the criminal charges they might face from the Decorah Police Department."

Armstrong, who has worked for Wartburg the last 11 years, feels that the rivalry between the two campuses "clearly stepped over the line of pranks. It was vandalism."

Past pranks have included Wartburg students painting the Martin Luther statue on Decorah Campus bright orange, dropping leaflets on the campus from a plane and burning a huge W in the turf of Luther's Carlson Stadium with atrozene. One of Luther's most memorable pranks include students stealing Wartburg's victory bell.

"My concern is this is going to escalate into a continuing problem," said Torgerson. "The spirit of rivalry is fine but when it reaches the point of property being destroyed and vandalism taking place, not only is it unlawful but it reflects poorly on both institutions."

Currently, no students have been correctly identified from either institution.

"It's pretty ignorant, disrespectful and shortsighted," said Bob Felde, assistant dean for student life, in regards to the events that transpired on Friday, Oct. 18.

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Christina Erb
News editor

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