On Monday morning, 29 April, committees of residents and the rector of the Alma Mater, Giovanni Molari, met and discussed at the table wanted in the Municipality by the mayor Matteo Lepore. The theme is obviously malamovida, with the first warm weather once again becoming an emergency. Already over the last weekend there were several voices from citizens worried about a situation that they said was out of control and crazy. Not only the noise, the music at full volume and the degradation at night, with the right to rest violated, but also fights and violence, even in broad daylight as last Saturday afternoon in Piazza Aldrovandi, where before the arrival of the police the protagonists of a violent confrontation with bottles fled away.
The meeting at Palazzo d’Accursio
Residents scared, especially to drive their cars where the closure of Via San Vitale under the Towers has the only possible outlet for traffic. «The good thing is that we finally met and the mayor will convene a working group from next week to address the issue, also if we are disheartened, disappointed and distressed, because solutions are slow in arriving”, said Giuseppe Sisti, president of Assopetroni at the table with the other representatives. The committees of the historic center have presented a document with various points in which they ask for the University to assume responsibility, «which must also take responsibility for what happens near university buildings. Unfortunately we are always told that these situations are very difficult to deal with for many reasons. However, we believe that the university’s responsibility is true on some aspects, and that this can also intervene, for example, at a regulatory level on student discipline.”
The rector: square crowded not only with students
The rector, however, reiterated that «the responsibility for public order is not the responsibility of the university. We have done a lot in terms of cleaning the walls, raising awareness and dialogue with all the student associations.” For Molari, on the other hand, the problem of malamovida cannot be found only within the student body. «Streets and squares are crowded with many people, not just university students. For our part, we can work together with the Municipality to organize events, use a cultural key to accompany the awareness work that we will continue to do.” And on the graduation celebrations which go too far and in turn cause degradation, another sore point for the committees, he explains that “We can think about organizing it in areas or buildings where management is simpler.”
