Asheville, North Carolina, Apr. 7 (AGR)-- Once again local law enforcement has found itself at the center of controversy after mass arresting a group of Warren Wilson College students on Mar. 25. During an on campus party commonly known as “the brown shoe” 38 Warren Wilson students were arrested after their failure to leave an unauthorized party in Dam Pasture, a section of Warren Wilson property. Buncombe County Deputies and the Asheville Police were both present.

“The police reacted to inquiries about the situation by using excessive force against students including the use of pepper spray, a tazer, and threats with night sticks,” claims a statement released by the students arrested at Dam Pasture.

Initially, Rick Hayes, the on-campus security guard, asked the students to disperse because it was an unauthorized party and because alcohol was present. This instruction was largely ignored by those present, so Hayes called the Sheriff’s Department. In the Warren Wilson Student Handbook, campus security is responsible for enforcing the alcohol policy. Although not stated in the handbook, Ben Anderson, Warren Wilson’s Public Information Director said, “Anytime there’s a matter that security can’t handle, they have the authority to call the police.”

Deputy Sherry Hines accompanied Hayes to the party and again students were told to leave. Many students complied at this point. One student, according to the statement released by the arrested students, approached Deputy Hines to inquire about the situation and “made unintentional contact” with her and was put under arrest for assault on an officer. The remaining students present were told that they could avoid arrest if they were to disperse immediately. About 50 students then chose to passively resist by sitting down. Further backup, including Asheville police, was then called to assist in making arrests.

Dylan Purington, a Warren Wilson student and one of the individuals arrested, spoke of some of the force he witnessed. “There were two people offering cigarettes to kids in cuffs… one was put into a choke hold and he couldn’t breathe and was drug away. The second was punched in the face twice by a cop.”

In a phone interview conducted on Apr. 2, Captain Farnesworth of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department claimed that no pepper spray or tazer was used and that there were no reports of punching or choke-holding arrestees.

When questioned as to why Asheville police were called, Captain Farnesworth cited the need for the city’s paddy wagon as well as the two departments’ history with assisting each other. “[We’ve got] a good working record with crowd control in downtown Asheville… They help us. We help them.”

The controversy over on-campus parties began last semester when similar parties were banned after mounting pressure on the administration concerning sexual assault on campus. Atalanta Sunguroff, a former student at Warren Wilson, was a part of the working group that addressed sexual assault on campus and brought the college into the media spotlight last fall. She believes that perhaps the college missed the point by bringing police onto campus to handle such a common college function: drinking. “I think it’s an issue of consent and sexual power dynamics that create sexual assault, not alcohol. The school should address issues of sexual assault and alcohol separately.”

No student received alcohol-related charges and instead students were given trespassing charges despite being on the property on which they pay to live. After student pressure the college has since decided to work with the district attorney to drop any charges that the school has control over.