Neeti Upadhye

Staff writer

Eileen Ryerse, who lives across the street from The College at Brockport, woke up three times Saturday night because students were yelling outside her house. Her Sunday morning? Spent picking up the trash left in her yard by students who were drunkenly journeying back to campus.

"It's not just the beer cars and the Solo cup — it's everything," she said. "It just makes me very, very sad that these kids don't have any respect for the village residents."

The disorder reached new levels homecoming weekend when nearly 1,000 college students and alumni forced Brockport police to shut down several bars and Main Street early Sunday morning.

Brockport Mayor Margay Blackman didn't seem the least bit surprised — attributing crowds and behavior to the school's big football game that took place earlier Saturday night.

"Certainly it's unprecedented, but the reason it is unprecedented is the bowl game," Blackman said Sunday afternoon. "It is a big event for Brockport."

The Courage Bowl was held at The College at Brockport Saturday as part of the school's homecoming festivities. The game between Brockport and St. John Fisher College drew a record crowd of more than 9,300. Fisher won the game, 36-20.

Brockport Police Chief Daniel Varrenti said police first shut down Rocco's Canal Side Pub and Merchant Street Smoke and Steakhouse around 1 a.m. because Clinton Street had become impassable to through traffic.

The abrupt closing forced as many as 1,000 people onto the main road in the village.

"Because of the large crowds gathering outside we decided to close all the bars in an attempt to move the crowd down the street," said Varrenti. "But instead of dispersing, they overtook the streets."

More than 30 police officers from nearly 13 area departments, including the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, arrived on scene to contain the throng of students who were loudly chanting "U-S-A" and "Let's Go Brockport."

The Brockport Police Department arrested at least six people.

While the village is accustomed to a high presence of college students, Varrenti said he had never witnessed a disruption of Sunday's scale.

"I don't have a lot of tolerance for this," he said. "In the future if we need to do this again we will do it until people start taking responsibility for their actions."

John Follaco, a spokesman at the College at Brockport, said there was a lot of excitement around campus for homecoming weekend. He added that the school takes its relationship with the village seriously.

"We try our best to be good neighbors to our friends in the village," Follaco said Sunday morning. "Unfortunately, an incident took place that we are still learning about."

The college also released a statement that said if any Brockport students were arrested they would face the school's student conduct system.

"We are grateful that no serious injuries occurred in the incident that took place in the Village of Brockport last night," the statement read. "We fully expect our students to comply and cooperate with directives from law enforcement officials, and are disappointed if that did not occur."

Nina LaMantia, a senior at Brockport, agreed that students overreacted to the circumstances.

"I thought it was absurd the way people reacted to them closing the bars," she said. "There was no need to riot."

But Shanna Timmerman, another senior at Brockport, was sympathetic to students who she said were just trying to enjoy their homecoming weekend.

"It didn't need to be taken to that level," she said. "But I understand that if you close bars people are going to get mad."

Sunday's incident wasn't the first time students from the college have created an issue in the community. In 2012, Brockport police handled 180 calls within a 12-hour period during the school's Brock The Port, an end-of-the-year party sponsored by the Brockport Student Government. While the event was suppose to be alcohol free, empty bottles of liquor and beer cans littered the village.

That event was eventually called off and efforts were made to improve relations among the college and the community. About 1,000 students went out in Brockport and nearby towns to work on various community service projects at the start of classes in 2013.

Blackman, a former professor at The College at Brockport, is a part of a committee of school and community members to address off-campus issues. She said she would like to create a committee of top administrators from the village and school to "explore the issue of partnership at the highest level."

As a not-for-profit organization, the College at Brockport is not required to pay village taxes. However, Blackman said it would be helpful if the school would consider off-setting some of the costs of added police during the college's special events.

Ryerse, a longtime Brockport resident and College at Brockport alum, said she would love if the village and university found a way to remain peaceful year-round.

"It is a pretty little town," she said. "Once you get past the school year."

NUPADHYE@Gannett.com

Twitter.com/NeetiU_DandC