There’s a thing called peer pressure. And there’s a thing called plain stupidity.

Apparently there are a number of Gallaudet students who have shown plain stupidity in the last several weeks.

It all started with the conclusion of the Homecoming Ball at the Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC. After the Ball, when several students returned to rooms they got for the Ball, that’s when plain stupidity started.

These students started making loud noises, shouting obscenities, pulling fire alarms, and scaring the beejeezus out of paying customers of the hotel.

All of this is reminiscent of past Homecoming Balls that ended in disaster. The cruise ball in the 1990s that got so many students drunk (think Minnesota Vikings, without the strippers), and the Hard Rock Café vandalism in the mid-1990s. Time and time again, Gallaudet students continue to prove to the D.C. community how immature they are.

Then, last Sunday, in a festive mood turned bad, a group of Gallaudet students, largely composed of freshmen – in the manner of large Division I colleges, tore down the goalposts on Hotchkiss Field in celebration of Gallaudet’s first unbeaten season in history.

What makes this “festive mood” sour was that it turned into a riot, a freshman was arrested, one was hospitalized, and another jumped onto a D.C. police car, bending the roof.

Sure, it’s easy to compare Gallaudet students to other college students. Hey, University of Maryland students started a riot after their NCAA championship in 2002. They burned mattresses, marched on route 1, and did property damage. Yes. But, we are not other colleges. We are Gallaudet.

It’s harder for Gallaudet students to act properly and show it at the same time because of the unique fact that we are a Deaf university. If one D/deaf person acts such, then everyone is labeled that way. It is sad, indeed.

For decades, perhaps centuries, since the time of Plato, D/deaf have been labeled as secluded from society in general. That because we’re always gonna be viewed by outsiders as representative of every D/deaf person out there, our every action takes on added meaning. Should we handicap our true feelings or monitor our behavior as to conform to mainstream society’s rules of “how a D/deaf person should act?” No, we shouldn’t — but sadly — we are.

So, is it fair that the Student Body Government may have to pay for lost revenue by Hyatt and their customers, and not to say, possible lawsuits? No. Reality check: we may have to.

By standing by and encouraging your classmates to act properly and respectfully, others are as responsible as the next person to you. With the actions of these aforementioned Gallaudet students who wistfully created destruction and disturbance, other students lose their unit fees on expenses that could be better used, and Gallaudet loses face.

But it shouldn’t be that way for Gallaudet’s sake or for the reputation of deafkind. It should be because of self-respect and because of respect for others.

This is where plain stupidity is just…stupid.