After weeks of uncertainty and debate among University of Wisconsin students, Mifflin Street residents, the Madison Police Department and Madison community members, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced Thursday the Mifflin Street Block party will be officially celebrated Saturday, April 30.
“We have decided to emphasize April 30 as the date,” Cieslewicz said. “The student leaders have agreed to work with us … to discourage partying on May 7th.”
The controversy surrounding the date of the party began when the city scheduled police for May 7, the first Saturday of May, which is the traditional day for the event. However, this year, May 7 fell on the official study date for UW, causing students to push for a date change throughout the past several weeks.
Cieslewicz met with Associated Students of Madison members, Mifflin residents and other concerned students April 15 where, according to ASM chair Emily McWilliams, the student group gave him several reasons as to why it would be beneficial to hold the block party in April.
McWilliams said students informed the mayor that despite the city’s pushing for May 7, students would be partying April 30. Because of this, she said they were able to demonstrate how endorsing April 30 would save the city money because the city would not have to suffer from the costs of two parties.
“If the misscheduling hadn’t happened in the first place, then the city could have saved [more] money,” McWilliams said.
McWilliams also said the group pointed out to Cieslewicz that changing the date would lower the chances of aggressive behavior of partygoers, which could potentially result in a Halloween-type of disturbance between police and students.
McWilliams said she thought one of the main reasons the mayor’s office changed their stance and decided to endorse the April 30 date was to improve and maintain a positive relationship between students and police.
McWilliams said after the meeting last week with Cieslewicz she was worried because the mayor’s office said they were adamant about the May date, stating it was set in stone. But following further discussion, Cieslewicz said he realized a party April 30 was going to be inevitable, despite attempts to push the May date.
“We tried to make that argument as strongly as we could,” he said. “It became clear to me that we weren’t getting a lot of traction on that attempt.”
Cieslewicz added he decided it would be best to work with student leaders in order to keep costs down for the city and make “an accommodation to reality” after students demonstrated enthusiasm to cooperate on April 30.
In working with the city and police, it is important students understand partying will take place April 30 and there will no longer be a party on May 7, McWilliams said, adding police will strictly enforce ordinances on the seventh.
McWilliams hopes this will serve as a lesson for everyone involved.
“This is a really big victory for everyone — for ASM and the students that live on Mifflin,” McWilliams said. “It demonstrated what we can do if we get organized.”
