Is it a warning of returning troubles, or does the new Butterfield just like pirates?
The black pirate flag appeared on the outside of the building, suspended from two third floor windows yesterday morning, but was taken down by the University of Massachusetts. UMass Housing officials have either refused to comment on the flag or have yet to return the Daily Collegian’s phone calls.
“I can’t give you an official statement on that,” Van Meter-Butterfield Residence Director John Yaun said. “You’d have to call [Housing Director] Michael Gilbert or [Associate Director] Dawn Thompson.”
The flag appeared some time Wednesday night, but according to some residents, there was talk of it earlier.
“I heard some kids talking about it, saying ‘we got a pirate flag,'” Heather Noonan, an undeclared freshman said. “I don’t know who put it up. I have no idea.”
Also preceding the raising of the Jolly Roger were visits by unidentified former Butterfield residents.
“Some people from last year came up were surprised how much it was changed. A couple of people down the hall had people that lived in their room the year before, they wanted to see the new building,” Noonan added. “It’s better than Southwest. The building looks gorgeous.”
Brian Doherty, an undeclared freshman, gave his opinion of the new Butterfield.
“Institutionalized is the perfect word for it,” Doherty said. He also saw some old residents of Butterfield in the building “They gave a few inspirational speeches. Sneak in a keg, drink a lot, be really loud.”
Doherty also knew something about the flag.
“This kid Joe; he was like ‘I love pirates, man,'” Doherty said. “I’m all for it.”
“Joe” is freshman Biology major Joseph Caruso, a self-described pirate fan.
“I was just doing it because I like pirates. Not the Pittsburgh kind, but the Captain thing; they’re all cool. I think they though I was mocking them because of things that happened in the past,” Caruso said. “I don’t know what was going on then. I heard it was a little crazy.”
University employees took down the flag.
“It has been taken down and we will be following up on this issue,” Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Javier Cevallos said. “We want this to stop, period. We will not allow the flag to fly again in Butterfield.”
A message on Caruso’s door told him to contact the Assistant Residence Director or the Residence Director. He says they informed that he couldn’t do have his pirate flag hanging outside.
“I had to go see John Yaun. They took my flag,” Caruso said. “I got in trouble for it. I had to explain to them that I like pirates. We’re not trying to be jerks.”
Dean of Students Joanne Vanin said that no disciplinary action was being considered at this time.
“The students did not know that it was not permissible to hang thing from the windows in the manner that they did,” Vanin said.
But the students who put the flag up say that they were just trying to make friends.
“We’re just trying to bring back a chill atmosphere,” neighbor John Dziurzynski, a freshman Physics and Eastern Studies major said. “It used to be so cool.”
Caruso thinks a big problem is the atmosphere isn’t so “chill.”
“A lot of kids are really scared. They don’t want to come out; some don’t want to leave their rooms. We’re making it so that everyone can leave their doors open and nobody will steal anything. John [Dziurzynski] likes pirates. The other Joe [Caruso’s room mate] likes pirates. All of my friends back home [Norwell, MA] are into pirates. We figure that we like pirates, and everyone likes pirates,” Caruso explained. “It’s our symbol for camaraderie. We don’t want to make it a bad place; we want to make it a place where everyone can be friendly. We don’t want it to be crazy; we just want people to be friendly.”
Former resident Marc Rendazza, class of ’94, was President of Butterfield from 1992 until 1994. He claims to hold a dubious honor.
“I actually put the first flag up, in the fall of 1992. Butterfield always had its own little community structure and we that Matt Ouellette (the area director at the time). It coincided with a letter you sent to the President George Bush seceding from the Union,” Rendazza remembers. “The first one was on the balcony in front of the building. So I took and climbed up on the roof and we used to have a big short-wave antenna and we rigged it up there and it was there for a few weeks. It got taken down the night before some parents’ weekend. We put it back up and that cheesed Housing off. After I left, it got taken down and people started painted it on the walls. That’s part of what the pirate flag was about.”
