Facebook Helps Power State Patty’s Day Connections

State Patty’s Day fans have found a friend in Facebook.

In State College, through Pennsylvania and across the northeast U.S., thousands of supporters of the unofficial drinking holiday have used the social-networking site to spread the word and register their devotion.

At midday Friday, 29,980 people had self-identified themselves as likely participants Saturday, the fifth annual State Patty’s Day drinking holiday. A rough review of the expected-attendee list shows that many live outside the State College area and appear to lack direct ties to the region.

By contrast, a much smaller number — 1,757 people — have joined an anti-State Patty’s group started by local medic Dan Phillips. Many appear to be Centre Countians.

The difference between those two online groups says a lot about how Facebook—and outside visitors to State College—have contributed to the growth of State Patty’s Day, a wholly unsanctioned event. Last year, social-networking web sites were considered partly to blame when out-of-towners seized the opportunity to visit State College for late-winter partying.

State College police reported 160 arrests for State Patty’s Day 2010, reflecting a 102 percent increase from 2009 — and more than the two previous years combined. More than half of those arrests involved non-students or visitors. Police received 365 calls, and emergency medics fielded 58.

‘Kiss Me … I’m Wasted’

Momentum for the 2011 State Patty’s incarnation started early, as an unofficial T-shirt – sporting the phrase ‘Kiss Me … I’m Wasted’ – began stirring controversy in January. Distributed off campus, the green shirt features a shamrock and a beer mug. More than 2,000 people took advantage of the T-shirt sale, even as Penn State and State College officials lamented the holiday, according to the Daily Collegian.

After the negative public attention, the T-shirt’s designer, Bloomsburg University student Brett Kazatsky, sent a note through the Facebook group, stressing that the shirts are ‘just for fun.’

His message: If you find the shirts offensive, don’t buy one.

Others Facebook groups have posted similar statements encouraging responsible behavior.

HappyValleyStuff.com has created shirts parodying statements by Geoff Rushton, a university spokesman, as well as Penn State President Graham Spanier’s referral to State Patty’s Day as a ‘so-called holiday.’ A representative of that site said the shirts were not intended to mock what university officials and Spanier have said about the event, but to capture ‘the official distancing language used toward a student celebration of camaraderie.’

HappyValleyStuff.com reported that more than 300 shirts have been sold — and not just to current students.

‘A good portion of our sales have been to alumni that live all over the northeast and gather with a few of their friends to celebrate something they have in common: Penn State culture,’ the representative said.

State Service Day

To another camp, the event has evolved to mean something quite different: a black mark on the town.

It isn’t just locals who feel that way. Many students have said they worry that the excessive drinking and property destruction associated with the event will overshadow their other contributions to the State College community.

The Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and The Council of LionHearts have planned a day of service projects in the area, including trash pick-up, recycling efforts and volunteering at Wynwood House retirement home in Centre Hall.

Dan Florencio, the Penn State IFC president, said the groups have spent the past few months meeting with community stakeholders, and have decided to use this weekend to ‘make a difference.’ Florencio believes that ‘State Service Day’ will give the Greek community a chance to combat lingering negative stereotypes, he said.

Greek life is rooted in service, and this year’s members have worked especially hard to honor those origins, he said.

Said Florencio: ‘Coming off a weekend where we helped raise $9.56 million for the Interfraternity/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, it’s obvious the positive effect we have at State College.’

Related coverage

• State Patty’s Day, in Fifth Year, Sees Strong Reaction (Feb. 25, 2011)