Officials said Thursday there is no estimate of how much it will cost to repair the damage inflicted on campus after the Chicago White Sox captured the World Series.

Just after 11 p.m. Wednesday, a mass of about 300 to 400 people destroyed lights, smashed windows and left much of the campus in disarray, police said. One person was arrested, but charges will be released Friday, officials said.

By about 1 a.m., much of the rowdiness had dissipated.


Beginning at Pulliam Hall, the mob snaked around campus and created havoc at Thompson Point, the Brush Towers, West Mill and College streets. SIUC police played a cat-and-mouse game with the crowd, fracturing the group and corralling them back toward the residence halls.

“They weren’t trying to create a problem, but we were there to monitor them,” SIUC Police Chief Todd Sigler said.

Officers from the SIUC, Carbondale and State police responded. Sigler said about a dozen University officers were on the scene, with some staying over from previous shifts.

Once police broke up the mass at Pulliam Hall, the crowd began a march toward McAndrew Stadium, destroying 14 light posts along the way. They hoped to tear down the goal posts at the football stadium.

“I think that it was a celebration; people were thrilled,” University spokeswoman Sue Davis said. “What started as a celebration got out of hand.”

As the rioters reached Lincoln Drive between Faner Hall and the Student Center, they were met with a wall of police officers lining the sidewalk around the stadium.

“It’s our goal post! Give us what we want!” the group yelled at police.

Some officers were manned with Mace, occasionally spraying it into the air. Others carried long, wooden riot sticks.

The mob then migrated to the other side of the Student Center toward Thompson Woods. The group quickly changed directions again and began moving toward the parking garage. Police flanked one side of the group, pushing them toward the pedestrian bridge next to Anthony Hall.

“All you can do is herd them and hope they don’t do too much damage,” an officer told a Daily Egyptian photographer.

The rioters were eventually pushed across the bridge. By the time the mob reached the other side, the mass was slowly deteriorating.

A faction of about 100 people moved toward the Salukis’ softball field, Charlotte West Stadium. Two people attempted to climb the fence and one made it inside. The other was wrestled to the ground by an officer and was arrested. As police made the arrest, a small mob gathered around them and chanted, “Police Brutality! Police Brutality!”

Some students who witnessed the chaos said much of the rowdiness began at the Allen residence hall in University Park, where the game had been projected onto an outside wall.

Other damages across campus included a broken window in the Agriculture Building and a soda machine tipped over next to the parking garage.

At Thompson Point, fire and police officials responded to a gasoline leak from one of two motorcycles that were been knocked over.

Carbondale Fire Station 1 responded to a small fire at about 1 a.m. after people toppled a light pole outside Pulliam Hall. Capt. Randy Murray said the light set a patch of dead grass on fire but was quickly extinguished. The station also took care of two recycling bin fires outside Allen II Building shortly before 2 a.m.

Fire Station 2 responded to some calls, including a couch fire on College Street, Murray said.

Sigler said his officers were prepared in case another wave began once the bars closed, but nothing was reported.

In Chicago, no riots or crowd control problems were reported, according to the Chicago Tribune. City police officials told the Tribune post-game celebrations across the city were lively but not unruly.

No major incidents were reported at Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois at Chicago. Despite calls, the Daily Egyptian was unable to reach authorities at Illinois State University and Eastern Illinois University.

Reporters Zack Creglow, Anthony Souffl, Andrea Zimmermann, Matthew McConkey, Laura Teegarden, Monique Garcia, Lane Christiansen, Alan Rogers and Kyle Means contributed to this report. They can be reached at [email protected]