Despite SUNY Cortland winning this year’s Cortaca Jug yet again, the post-game celebrations in the City of Cortland were exponentially calmer than they were last year, thanks to precautions taken by SUNY Cortland and the City of Cortland.
Last year’s Cortaca game resulted in disaster for Cortland. After defeating the Bombers last November, students and fans of SUNY Cortland rioted in the City of Cortland, vandalizing buildings, homes, cars and jumping off rooftops.
In an effort to prevent rioting from happening again after the game Nov. 15, the City of Cortland Common Council formed the College and Community Joint Commission to create the “Take Back Cortaca” initiative. The intention of “Take Back Cortaca” was to lessen the reputation of Cortaca being a partying event and steer it back to its roots as a football game.
The increase in the number of police officers on and around campus prevented students and fans who attended the game from acting inappropriately like last year. SUNY Cortland’s Student Government Association was smart to arrange a concert after Cortaca in order to discourage students from potentially getting in trouble at house parties or other public places. Both SUNY Cortland and the City of Cortland did an excellent job collaborating to prevent another post-Cortaca riot from occurring, mending their reputation from last year’s events.