The Bloomsburg University campus was eerily quiet for what was expected to be the loudest and rowdiest weekend in the spring 2022 semester: Block Party.

From Friday, April 22, to Sunday, April 24, Bloomsburg’s “block party” was well-contained away from school grounds. Many students took control to limit underage drinking and students visiting from neighboring schools, which has historically caused problems.

These problems tend to affect the businesses of Bloomsburg.

The manager of That’s Amore, Manny Failla, told a reporter: “I don’t mind the block party as long as it’s controlled well. This year, the students did a really good job of controlling it.”

Failla also said that the block party generates business since people are coming in from out of town. That’s Amore and college students have a good relationship, Failla says.

BU students and faculty expected the 2022 block party to be especially bad with the combination of the block party’s history and the excitement around the block parties return.

Owen Zulli, a freshman medical imaging major from Enola, PA, was at this year’s block party. He said that party-goers made sure to only gather during daylight hours.

Kendyl Swank, a senior political science major from Mechanicsburg, PA, weighs in.

“You would’ve expected this year to be more crazy than 2019 since we all went two years without a block party… I think people were extra scared of getting citations this year,” she said.

The “citations” mentioned refer to the town policy that gatherings of 150 people or more require a permit.

The fraternity that Owen Zulli takes part in, Delta Pi, utilized a wristband system to reduce the number of unwarranted guests on their property.

The police were vigilant this year, and worked with the university to make sure things went smoothly. Town police were said to have a “zero tolerance policy” for any violations this year, as stated in a news release from bloomsburgpa.org.

Jacob Eiden, a sophomore from Scranton, PA, and Community Assistant (CA) in Elwell Hall, said that the block party did not cause many problems and was especially quiet at night. Eiden is a media and journalism major.

Braden Priester, a senior digital forensics major and fellow CA in Elwell Hall, told a reporter about the 2019 block party, the last one to take place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Have you ever seen World War Z? The hoard of people was just like that,” joked CA Braden Priester.

Priester said that so many people were getting arrested in 2019 that APCs, or armored personnel carriers, were used to transport them.

The news release also mentions that the 2016 block party had the most arrests in block party history at 375.

The 2022 block party was a stark contrast to 2019 with the Bloomsburg town being nearly empty.

The block party is not town nor campus-affiliated, so no one has authority to get rid of it. However, if the block party remains as tame as it did this year, officials have nothing to worry about going forward.