Genevieve Shawcross is a fourth-year Media & Culture major with a minor in Journalism. GS918938@wcupa.edu
The week of March 15 marked West Chester University’s 2021 spring break — a year after our 2020 spring break extended into a completely remote semester. After a year-long pandemic, West Chester students were ready to take a trip down to the one and only Miami, which is infamous for not enforcing COVID-19 restrictions. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the state as “an oasis of freedom in a nation that’s suffering, in many parts of the country, under the yoke of oppressive lockdowns.” This comes after the state rolled back the statewide mask mandate.
South Beach was a “hotspot” for out-of-town Miami spring breakers. With dangerously large crowds partying on the streets throughout the night, the City of Miami Police Department was forced to take action in an attempt to break the crowds apart by using tear gas and pepper spray balls. Grace Rudman, a sophomore at West Chester University, found herself in the middle of the chaos:
“We were just walking back to our hotel when the crowds began to get worse and turned into complete riots. The police started flashing their sirens and warning they were going to set off tear gas so we quickly ran into the lobby of a nearby hotel. The hotel staff let us stay inside for hours until it was safe. The next day, we decided it wasn’t safe to remain in South Beach and we left to stay with my uncle in Fort Lauderdale. That’s how scary it was.”
After the anarchy that occurred the night of March 18, Miami Beach Interim City Manager Raul J. Aguila declared a State of Emergency throughout the city, closing the Ocean Drive strip from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday through Sunday, which will be effective until at least April 12. Miami spring break of 2021 saw over a thousand arrests and the murder of Christine Englehardt, a Pennsylvania Bucks County woman.