The news of Osama Bin Laden’s death on Sunday May 1 around 11:30 p.m. was a cause of celebration for many Americans, but it incited a riotous reaction on Fairfield University’s campus.
While the reason behind the celebration was understandable, the excessive nature of the celebration coupled with the prolonged duration of noise and chaos was distracting to many campus residents trying to complete end of the semester work or sleep.
Yes, the death of Bin Laden is a symbolic victory for America, but celebrating the death of a person doesn’t seem moral or Jesuit-like. While it’s great that the sense of patriotism for this country was revived, it is a little disturbing that this has been the biggest spontaneous celebration by the student body on campus thus far this year. When Obama won the presidency, students also ran outside in the Quad in celebration, but those festivities were quickly shut down by Public Safety. This year the students had gathered for at least two hours without having the group be broken up by Public Safety.
The behavior by the students was excessive, and we feel that some students were caught up in the frenzy of the news. There is a reason to celebrate; not necessarily the death of an individual but rather the event’s symbolism in the progress towards the fight against terrorism.
And, by the way, where did all those American flags come from?
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