On campuses, officials pledge cooperation

Local college officials said yesterday that they had taken numerous steps to prevent mayhem after the American League Championship Series games.

Yesterday, after the death of an Emerson College student, they promised to pursue, discipline, and turn over to police any students who broke the law.

Most universities beefed up security and sent letters reminding students of the sanctions they could face for misbehaving. Emerson College had twice as many officers on duty as usual.

Boston University had 25 officers and eight supervisors on duty, more than six times their force on a normal night. Northeastern had ''virtually everybody" on its police and security staff on duty, said spokesman Fred McGrail. Several schools also had officers stationed at the Boston Police Department's command center.

After the Red Sox victory, rowdy crowds of young people massed in Kenmore Square and around Fenway Park, and police responded in force to control them. A 21-year-old Emerson student, Victoria Snelgrove, was hit in the eye with a pepper-spray-filled plastic ball and died yesterday afternoon, according to authorities.

At a press conference last night, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he would urge university officials to expel students who are caught violating the law.

Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole added that police would use every means available, including videotape, to identify lawbreakers and prosecute them.

Earlier in the day, college officials said they would cooperate with the city if asked to identify troublemaking students caught on video, and they would punish, even expel them, just as Northeastern University did after the Super Bowl.

"Who knows whether they are BU students, but we are happy to investigate; we are happy to help identify them and take action," said BU spokesman Colin Riley. ''Any individual that's doing this needs to be held accountable."

After the Super Bowl, Northeastern set up a website with 24 photographs taken during the disorders, asking students to identify the young men seen vandalizing cars and setting fires. At least seven students were later expelled based on photographic evidence, and a number of others faced lesser sanctions.

In the midst of post-Super Bowl celebrations, James Grabowski, the 21-year-old brother of a freshman, was run over by a sport utility vehicle. Schools say they responded with more policing and better planning.

''The university will not tolerate unlawful or disruptive behavior, on or off campus, and will file charges against any student who violates the Code of Conduct," Ed Klotzbier, vice president for student affairs at Northeastern, reminded students Wednesday in an e-mail, which was also posted around campus. ''Enjoy the game. And let's continue to demonstrate to everyone that Northeastern University students are an asset to the city of Boston."

Large universities such as BU and Northeastern also provided alcohol-free venues with free food for students to watch the games. Jon Marker, president of BU's student government, said the school was smart to hold a raffle just after the game, keeping some 500 students from heading into the streets.

''I think the universities did a good job, seeing how they did have just one day's notice," said Marker, who was in Kenmore Square after the game.

He said that almost all the students who gathered in Kenmore Square headed home as soon as the police began trying to dispel the crowds. ''The vast majority of students were just there to celebrate," he said.

Despite universities' precautions, it didn't always feel like there was a major security presence on the street. As the game ended, students poured out of BU-owned residence halls in the Audubon Circle area, many obviously drunk or drinking in the street. One set off a cherry bomb, and someone threw a beer can at a young woman in a Yankees hat. There were no police officers in sight.

One university with repeated experiences dealing with postgame melees has been taking even more extreme crowd control measures. Campus police at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst now use plainclothes officers to arrest crowd instigators, and they try to break up celebrating crowds within a half-hour.

''Just the jumping up and down and screaming wears off, and they start thinking about pulling branches off trees or 'Gee, maybe we can crowd-surf or find something to burn,' " said Patrick Archbald, deputy police chief at UMass, where there were 29 arrests after the game, with students throwing beer cans, some of them with a flaming liquid, at police.

Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.