While UW-Madison is undecided about what actions to take in response to Saturday night's chaos on State Street, another university, faced with a similar situation, has taken aggressive steps to cease such dangerous revelry.
Halloween riots at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale peaked about five years ago and resembled the destruction seen on State Street in the past two years.
Donny Winget, student supervisor of Campus Information at SIUC, said people were breaking windows, turning over cars and starting fires on the main street which contains bars and restaurants near campus.
While the Halloween celebration in Carbondale goes back decades, it only turned to rioting in recent years.
\The city and the university definitely wanted to put an end to the kind of celebration that had evolved and we've been successful at doing that,"" said Sue Davis, executive director of media and communication resources at SIUC.
For two years after the riots, SIUC implemented a fall break, giving students time off the week before Halloween. The university closed the dorms so residents had to go home or pay to stay.
On top of this decision, SIUC sent out information to other schools to let their students know not to expect revelry at Carbondale.
""When the riots were going on, the majority of those who got arrested weren't from here. They were from, usually, up north,"" Winget said.
""That's the nature, I think, of any big celebration ... most of [the rioters] are not pure university students,"" said Gerald Rinehart, associate vice provost for Student Affairs at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Davis cited letting students and visitors know about the expectations of the weekend as the main action that has led to safer Halloween celebrations. The weekend is treated like any other, with a few extra precautions.
Public drunkenness is not allowed on this weekend, as on any other weekend, and alcohol is less accessible.
""They shut down all the bars that are on what we call 'the strip,'"" Winget said.
He added that although these implementations have been made, the spirit of the Halloween celebration is still there.
UW-Madison officials must now decide if they will take such drastic measures to prevent chaos here.
Lori Berquam, assistant dean of students, said she hopes the actions of those who caused problems this weekend will not deter future Halloween celebrations.
""We wish [Saturday's destruction] didn't happen, but at the same time there were a lot of people who did behave appropriately,"" Berquam said.
