After the city reported record-high criminal offenses at last year’s St. Fratty’s Day block party, Cal Poly is moving the notorious event off the streets and onto campus.
A free music festival is planned at the Lower Sports Complex with police enforcement and city supervision in the early hours of March 15.
‘Morning On the Green – A Mustang Music Festival,’ will be free for students. It will be open to anyone 18 and older, with food and drinks available. Alcohol will be served at a beer garden to students 21 and older, according to the SLO Tribune.
The event intends to discourage neighborhood partying and disruption while keeping students on campus, instead of in the nearby neighborhoods.
According to records obtained by Mustang News, headliner options include The Kid Laroi, John Summit, Ice Spice and Sexyy Red. The supporting artists considered were Rico Nasty, Subtronics, Doechii, Ski Mask the Slump God, Big Sean, A Boogie, NLE Choppa and Denzel Curry.
The music festival will feature a headliner and support artist, according to a form sent to Inter Housing Council and RAs on Jan. 28. The form asked the RAs to rank their favorite artists for each category to gauge student interest.
What other precautions are Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo taking?
To combat concerns of property damages on campus, University Housing announced guests will not be allowed in all University Housing from March 13-18. Charges for on-campus damages incurred during the six days will be doubled from the usual rates.
The official St. Patrick’s Day event site states, “Out-of-town guests should not plan to come here,” as no overnight visitor parking will be available on campus.
By the City of San Luis Obispo, St. Fratty’s Day will remain under a Safety Enhancement Zone, resulting in doubled fines for public urination, open container, unruly gatherings, and noise. This means any individual who receives a first-offense fine will be charged $700. The Safety Enhancement Zone will take place on March 7-9 and March 14-17.
Additionally, the university and city presented to Greek life organizations, the Inter Housing Council, and ASI to create state-wide paid social media ads and contact other universities to discourage student attendance. Starting Feb. 15, neighborhood canvassing will begin, according to the presentation given at City Council.
Task force to shut down St. Fratty’s
It is currently unclear if the university will solely be funding this concert, however, many of the proposed headliners are out of that affordability range.
When asked about the budget and funding for the event, Cal Poly Spokesperson Matt Lazier stated in an email to Mustang News, “We’ll be able to talk further about budgetary questions after St. Patrick’s Day.”
According to the 2024-2025 ASI Fiscal Operating Budget, ASI proposed $160,000 in funding for concerts, a 33.5% increase from the year before.
In addition to musicians, the university will provide special programming for harm reduction. Cal Poly is setting up hydration boxes and will present drug overdose education via PULSE.
On March 13, PULSE will host a booth on the Health Center Lawn to instruct students in detecting alcohol poisoning and when to call for help. Fraternities and sororities can also request hydration boxes and pick them up from PULSE.
After the event, the Fraternity and Sorority Life Center for Service in Action will host a neighborhood cleanup.
“Our strategy looking forward shall not be on containment, it shall be on prevention,” San Luis Obispo Police Chief Rick Scott said in a post-St. Fratty’s Day city council meeting last March.
Since then, Cal Poly developed a St. Patrick’s Day Task Force in Oct. 2024, according to Mayor Erica Stewart. While the city and university’s end goal is to completely cancel the event, San Luis Obispo Deputy Chief Fred Mickel said this event plan reflects a realistic timeline to shut the event down in a few years.
Record damages accumulated during St. Fratty’s 2024
Last year, the university faced nearly $24,000 worth of damages in Tenaya Hall and Muir Hall alone. Lazier confirmed the damages included broken fire suppression and alarm systems, smashed ceiling tiles leaving debris and a need for deep cleaning and air quality restoration throughout both residence halls.
While there were ongoing investigations to find responsible parties, damages gone unidentified became the collective responsibility of student residents. Each resident in each respective hall was asked to pay a sum of the total damage fine.
University Housing discontinued the Orfalea College of Business Residential Learning Community for the 2024-25 academic year in response to these damages. Due to an influx in damages from the start of the pandemic until the culminating event, last St. Fratty’s.
With 2024 showing record citations, the university and city hope this on-campus event will keep students off the streets and minimize citations.
History of St. Fratty’s
St. Fratty’s is Cal Poly’s most recent student event to draw national attention due to destructive behavior.
In May 1990, a nearly 60-year-old tradition called Poly Royal was canceled after a weekend of rioting. A record 110 arrests created mass disruption in the community, hauling more than 100 students to be treated at local hospitals, according to past Mustang News coverage.
With the cancellation of Poly Royal, a new event emerged to entice large gatherings of students in the streets. Over the next 14 years, Cal Poly became accustomed to the annual Mardi Gras celebrations; which are now left with one headline: The 2004 Mardi Gras riot.
Following Mardi Gras, St. Fratty’s celebrations debuted in 2009, becoming the replacement event and garnering national attention for the destructive aftermath. Over the years, the amount of neighborhood damages increased, according to public records data from the San Luis Obispo City Clerk.
This is an ongoing story. Mustang News will publish updates as more information becomes available.
Jeremy Garza contributed to the reporting of this story and requested the public records data for the graphs.