It’s not news that Chico State students have a bad reputation in the area. Holidays like Saint Patrick’s Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day have been flooded with stories of students behaving badly.

I guess we forgot that we have a sibling college nearby: Butte College.

Over half of the Butte College bus routes to the main campus are Chico routes. I seem to recall that Butte College has about the same number of full-time students as Chico State does.

What Butte College lacks is a program space and funding dedicated to diversion programs where its students live.

I’m not pointing a finger at Butte College students. Like Chico State there are those students who will start a party weekend on Tuesday, students who excel academically and students who passionately participate in their Associated Students, InterClub Council, student organizations and state-wide student government.

The real issue here is that when students behave badly who gets the blame?

We do.

It’s our university that cleans up the “mess” through co-operative programs like the Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center, Cross Cultural Leadership Center and the Office of Student Life and Leadership.

It is the same idea as going to someone’s house for a party: You don’t really care about the mess because you don’t have to clean it up. It’s not in your backyard.

As a university we need to be reaching out and forming meaningful partnerships with our Butte College colleagues for the health, safety and reputations both of our campuses and student populations.

Joseph Rogers can be reached at [email protected] or @josephlrogers1 on twitter.