Prayers, probe follow injuries after UT game

A prayer service was held for Esther Munn, a theater and music major who is shown during a performance.

Prayers and promises of a formal investigation were offered yesterday at the University of Toledo in the wake of serious injuries to two students during celebrations following Saturday night's football victory.

More than 30 people gathered in the lobby of the Center for Performing Arts at noon for the prayer service for Esther Munn and to write notes wishing her well. Many were still shocked that the theater and music major was hospitalized after being struck in the head with a goal post as fans celebrating the Rockets' victory over the ninth-ranked University of Pittsburgh dumped it in the Ottawa River.

“It's a tragedy. It's so senseless,” said Erik Johanson, an associate professor of music. “Esther is one of the ones you never forget.”

Melanie Reihing, a sophomore who sang with Ms. Munn in UT's Concert Chorale, called her friend vibrant and extremely talented.

“I feel she'd want to go away and become a star on Broadway,” she said.

Ms. Munn, 22, was reported in critical condition Sunday night in Toledo Hospital, but a hospital official said she could provide no information about her yesterday. A federal law that went into effect earlier this year - the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - allows patients to withhold information about them from the public.

A family spokesman reached by phone yesterday said the young woman's condition was improving, but declined to say more.

The other injured student, Joe Moening, 21, an electrical engineering major, was trampled during the postgame celebration on the field.

The senior, for whom a prayer service will be held at UT at an undetermined time, remained in serious condition in Toledo Hospital yesterday.

Through hospital officials, each of the families declined to comment.

Tobin Klinger, a university spokesman, said he knew of two other students who received minor injuries during the postgame celebration.

Dr. David Baehren, an emergency physician at Toledo Hospital, said several other people came to the hospital after the game with various injuries, including cuts, bruises, and a concussion.

UT President Daniel Johnson announced yesterday that he is forming two teams to review what happened when both sets of goal posts were removed from the Glass Bowl. One team will coordinate efforts to respond to the situation, and the other will investigate the incident and recommend ways to prevent similar accidents from happening.

“My goal is not only to determine what happened, but also to determine, through benchmarking, what best practices exist that could be implemented at a policy level to ensure tragedies like this do not happen in the future,” Dr. Johnson said in a prepared statement. He was not available for media interviews.

Mr. Klinger said UT had not ruled out criminal charges against those in the mob.

Immediately after the game, UT head football coach Tom Amstutz had commented about the excitement of the postgame celebration, saying: “After a win like this, they [the goal posts] had to come down.”

Yesterday, he was visibly shaken in addressing the matter.

“Everyone was wrapped up in the emotion and all after the game, and I had no way of knowing at the time that someone had been hurt, and I just feel terrible about it,” he said.

Coach Amstutz said students need to be safe and sensible in how they celebrate.

“In no way would I ever encourage them to do anything that would jeopardize another student,” he said.

UT Police Chief John Dauer told The Blade Sunday that the university had 30 campus and off-duty Toledo police officers providing security at the game. Yesterday, Mr. Klinger said the university had undercounted and actually had 45 officers. Their plan, he said, was to do what was possible - short of force - to protect the goal posts.

This is not the first time a celebrating mob has brought down the aluminum goal posts at UT, which Mr. Klinger said will cost $8,000 to replace. In fact, they were brought down four times during the previous three seasons.

At Bowling Green State University, the goal posts last came down in 2001 after a game against UT.

J.D. Campbell, BGSU assistant athletic director for communications, said the university takes special measures before big games to prevent such occurrences, though he declined to describe such measures.

“We understand that it's a situation that we try to avoid at all costs,” he said “We just try to take every precaution that you can.”

Problems with fan behavior have become more frequent in recent years, according to NCAA spokesman Kay Hawes, who said the issue was the subject of a summit in February.

The report from that summit cites a number of examples of what some colleges have done to combat the problem. Washington State University, for example, developed an H-shaped goal post that has withstood attempts by fans to bring it down. Other schools prefer to have a strong police presence.

“This report is really intended to spark additional discussion about what can be done to prevent tragedies such as this,” she said.

Sports writer Matt Markey contributed to this report