Repercussions for drunken, disorderly behaviour need to be "ramped up", Otago University Students' Association president Logan Edgar said yesterday.
Police had to move hundreds of highly intoxicated people from Castle St North in the student accommodation area on Monday night, as parties along the street got out of control.
Mr Edgar said harsher penalties could change the perception of the general public and people wanting to study in Dunedin of what was normal behaviour at the university.
University of Otago vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne said yesterday until it was no longer cool to behave in a drunken, disorderly manner, the actions of a few would continue to overshadow all the positive things Otago students achieved during their time in Dunedin.
Sergeant Chris McLellan praised an Orientation event at Forsyth Barr Stadium earlier on Monday night as being "perfectly run and well controlled", but said revellers in Castle St later brought down the tone of the evening.
The Fire Service attended at least six rubbish and couch fires in the vicinity, as people partying in the street became drunker and the situation deteriorated.
Property was damaged. Six people - all students - were arrested, including one man who was shooting fireworks into the crowd.
Prof Hayne said the occupants of flats hosting the parties were summonsed to see the proctor yesterday. He was keeping her informed, and others could be dealt with under the university's code of conduct.
Behaviour of the type seen on Monday was unacceptable in any community and the university shared the public's concerns, but there was no simple answer to the problem, she said.
Alcohol-related disorder was a problem throughout New Zealand, and the "current laws and attitudes toward alcohol contribute to the problem", she said, but it was also important for young people to take responsibility for their own behaviour and that of their peers.
"This problem will stop as soon as it is no longer cool to behave like this."
Mr Edgar said it was disappointing Monday night's behaviour was linked to Orientation, after all the effort and planning that went into organising a safe, responsible event.
But it was not only the drinking culture that needed to change, he said.
"There's just this misperception that sort of behaviour is acceptable and normal in Dunedin. There needs to be work done to change that perception that that's what you come here to do."
He noted that even directly after a segment about Orientation he took part in on a family television show, the presenters had joked about why they did not just have a few couch fires instead.
Making the repercussions of such behaviour more serious - expelling people, for example - would make people think twice about behaving in that manner.
Prof Hayne said excluding students from university was an option under the code, after due process had been followed.
Sgt McLellan said the crowd in Castle St on Monday night was generally good spirited, but there was a high level of drunkenness.
People were drinking from "beer bongs" and had bottles of alcohol taped to their hands.
It was, unfortunately, the same thing police saw in that area "year after year", he said.
"We change our tactics to deal with it all the time, but if ordinary members [of the public] went up there and saw that, they would be disgusted."
Police believe a liquor ban, which has been successfully implemented in the central city, would give them a means of keeping alcohol-related situations from escalating.
A proposal is about to go out to the public for consultation, but even if it passes all hurdles, it would be at least four months before it would be in place.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said a liquor ban was primarily a tool to keep people safe. It would also work to change the attitude it was OK to drink to excess.
