The Boston Licensing Board on Thursday decides whether Royale, 279 Tremont St., could have done anything to prevent rising tensions over the impending World Cup final from boiling over into a fight between two students at MIT's Sloan School of Management that, unlike the soccer match, ended with the French victorious.
The school was holding an end-of-semester party for its students at the club on Dec. 15 - three days before the final between France and Argentina - when a French student spotted the Argentine student wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with his country's flag in the men's room, made some comments, one thing led to another and the French guy punched the Argentine guy in the face five or six times shortly after 1 a.m., busting his lip, breaking his nose and possibly giving him a concussion. The Argentine guy, however, may have escalated the initial verbal jousting by throwing a drink in the French guy's face.
At a hearing this morning, Royale co-owner George Kalevas began his testimony by exclaiming: "Lotta nerds!"
Kalevas said the club had not put on extra security or requested a police detail for the event, because, come on, MIT grad students. "It's something you would never expect to happen with people who are in school together at that level and at that age," he said. "The Sloan School of Business, this is the last place you'd think this would happen."
But, he noted the nearness of the World Cup. "We know how some people are fanatics about their team," he said, adding, "The only thing I can say is Argentina got their revenge back because they won the World Cup."
Kalevas said he wasn't aware of the incident at first and that by the time he got down to the floor, pretty much everybody involved had fled.
Board members expressed concern that Kalevas didn't call police once he was alerted to the incident, saying that while he might not have been able to find the suspect, police might have. However, in their citation for the incident, police did not cite Royale for failure to call police.
At a meeting Thursday, the board will consider whether Royale could have prevented the fight, and, if so, what penalty to apply.
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Ad:
Comments
Looks like it got real Messi
By anon
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 11:53am
Looks like it got real Messi over there
There Coulda Been a Kylian
By anon
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 3:21pm
If things had gotten any worse.
Bro
By Will LaTulippe
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 4:38pm
Just go ahead and register. You're absolutely (expletive) welcome here.
Had he called the police...
By Friartuck
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 12:07pm
These two would immediately be booted out of MIT. Wonder if there was an incentive not to call them?
Nerds?
By Kaz
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 12:26pm
Sloan is the business school...MBAs, future CEOs, think lots of narcissists, American Psycho, cocaine not crack.
This guy's thinking MIT...PhDs, hackathons, robots, AI that will take over how you order food delivery. They're a completely different kind of narcissist.
The maturity of graduate students
By Daan
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 1:41pm
We have thousands of graduate students in the nation (Supreme Court!) whose maturity is that of a junior high student. Scalia never graduated from name calling. Thomas never graduated from always wanting more, more and more.
The former White House resident is a child in a man's body. So why would anyone expect that graduate students are somehow, magically, above adolescent plug ugly pugilism.
But then what is the real value of graduate schools of business or management? Degrees that say the person learned how to manipulate, bully and suck money out of poverty, prisons and death.
The former
By SamWack
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 5:06pm
I have no disagreement with anything you say, except on a minor factual matter. The former White House resident was never a graduate student.
Lotta nerds!
By The Snob
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 4:32pm
Came here just to say this is an example of a completely satisfying story. Kalevas's opening quote is the cherry on top.
And for those who dispute the classification of Sloan students as nerds, clearly you haven't met many of them. They may be the Chaddiest of nerds, or the nerdiest of the Chads, but either way they are most certainly nerds by comparison to the median nightclub denizen.
The silliness of the licensing board
By emac
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 6:00pm
At a meeting Thursday, the board will consider whether Royale could have prevented the fight
What precisely was Royale supposed to do to prevent this? Did they fail to screen the (nerdy but international) entrants for conflicting loyalties? Did they — gasp — serve alcohol? Should they have security guards posted in every bathroom and corner of Royale?
Silliness. In the city that always sleeps.
Lotta small dick energy there.
By Bob Leponge
Tue, 09/12/2023 - 9:14pm
If you commit felony assault and battery over loyalty to some sports team that doesn’t even know you exist, you belong in a cage, not walking around freely among the humans.
Add comment