On Saturday, thousands of students gathered at the Mifflin Street Block Party before the dark clouds of finals descend upon us.

Some negative responses have been surfacing about Saturday. Police Chief Noble Wray told the Wisconsin State Journal he didn’t “think in any measure this could be considered a success.” University of Wisconsin senior Nicole Halpern told The Badger Herald she thought it was the worst Mifflin she ever had experienced.

The only way the Madison Police Department would ever use the word “success” to describe the block party would be if it ceased to exist. As the State Journal reports, Wray called for a downsize and eventual end to the party last month. Yes, last year was out of hand, but we proved this year that violence is the exception, not the norm.

And as for attendees who thought it was a “bad” Mifflin, I do not remember anything bad about it, other than those who were unlucky enough get ticketed. I did not see any sulking or disappointed faces on Saturday. Students showed up. Students had fun. Sure, there may have been less than last year, but if you are with a fun group of friends, does it really matter if you are surrounded by 4,000 or 20,000 people you don’t know?

And surely, we can expect people like Wray to naively claim the decline in attendance is symptomatic of the approaching end of Mifflin. But in reality, there was still a significant number of students in attendance. There also was a great number in other places, like Langdon Street and other parties all over campus.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam told the State Journal, “It certainly was an improvement in terms of no stabbings. It’s a low bar, but we made the bar.” No, Lori, we made the bar; do not include yourself. Your “don’t go” video showed students you would rather have us at home knitting sweaters than making fond memories with friends. And of course we made the bar; it seems as though Mifflin critics do not understand last year was an extreme aberration. Well, now they have proof that it was.

That being said, I hold nothing against those who did not go to Mifflin, and neither should any of those in attendance. No one should ostracize those who chose not to go, just like no one should criticize those who went. Different strokes for different folks, and all of them are acceptable.

Mayor Paul Soglin told the State Journal last month his goal is to “keep downsizing it every year to get to the point where there will be no block party.” Yeah, that’s pretty obvious from how half-heartedly he tried to find a solution to make this year’s Mifflin successful.

The reality is Mifflin is going to continue to happen. This year did not suck, like MPD and other administrators hoped. No one got stabbed. There were not any violent crimes. Students went out, had fun and de-stressed before finals. 

All that’s left is for the city to learn what worked and what did not this year. And realistically, discussion for next year should begin now. Planning efforts by the city to make Mifflin successful, like a failed attempt at finding a sponsor, fell through this year, resulting in the city taking the simple, but costly approach of increased police presence. If Madison officials truly want to ensure the event is successful for everyone, they need to start a dialogue a year in advance to reduce costs and ensure safety.

We have shown Mifflin is not the stain critics proclaim it to be. It’s far from dead.

Reginald Young ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in legal studies and Scandinavian studies.