An ugly altercation at Colby College recently among drunk students, campus security officers and area police ended in the arrests of two young men; a third student was arrested later that night. Outraged students denounced the "brutality" of security personnel and police, charged them with racism, called for college President William "Bro" Adams to be fired as well as for Adams to suspend the officers involved. They also organized a rally in which wearing a red shirt denoted solidarity with the arrested students, one of whom bled from a face or head wound when he was tackled to the floor by security. The rally was peaceful, though charged with aggressive language, and students demanded an apology from the administration for the incident.

Though they didn't get an apology, Adams responded with a conciliatory speech designed, it seems, to quiet down his restive campus. "I hear you, I understand, and I understand the level of upset that has been expressed today and previously and will continue to be expressed, and I need you to know that I share a level of profound upset," Adams told students. Adams has pledged to appoint an outside investigator to find out what really happened during the night in question.

The incident is just one in a string of events over the years where student alcohol abuse has strained public resources in Waterville, undermined the good will cultivated by many Colby students in their community and fostered public disaffection towards an important institution in the region. The bottom line is that the recent and unfortunate events on campus would never have happened had students not been consuming alcohol.

When a private institution interacts with the public, how it interacts becomes public business. Colby students' many encounters with Waterville police and emergency services have turned the internal problem of campus drinking into a public issue.

When 17 students end up in the local emergency room with possible alcohol poisoning, that displaces beds for other folks in the community and diverts the attention of public safety workers. When campus security summons city police several times in one night because of drinking and attendant vandalism, that's just too much demand on police. When that kind of problem keeps happening at a city bar, there's usually an outcry from citizens to crack down on the misbehavior.

We do not believe Colby is a school for rich, spoiled kids who ain't got no respect for authority. The school has a diverse student body, many of whom are engaged in meaningful community work that enriches Waterville and its neighboring communities. And all Maine's colleges have problems with underage and excessive drinking. But Colby has allowed its problems to become too much of a burden to the community it calls home.

For the health of its own students and the greater community as well as for the reputation of this important institution, the Colby administration needs to find an effective way to diminish drinking at the school. That point was readily acknowledged in the student-run campus newspaper just after the recent incident. Their editorial said, "... this situation is only the latest indicator that the campus alcohol culture is out of control."

But there's a deeper problem that needs to be tackled. The college needs to directly acknowledge that what happens at Colby has an effect beyond college borders.

Both Colby's administrators and students need to admit that for the good of the community, excessive drinking and out-of-control behavior are dangerous and will, ultimately, damage both lives inside and outside of Colby, as well as the college's reputation.

When the police say students' drinking is more than they can or want to handle, when students are arrested and lawyers retained, when campus events deteriorate into screaming confrontations among security, police and students -- that's a state of affairs that can no longer continue. Colby President Adams offered hope in this regard when he said, "These events do not represent the standards of mutual respect, trust, and personal responsibility that we as a community aspire to observe."

Amen, Bro.

Editorials represent the opinion of the Editorial Board of this newspaper: Publisher John Christie, Executive Editor Eric Conrad and Opinion Page Editor Naomi Schalit.