At next year's Homecoming bonfire, students may want to think twice before pelting the nearest police officer with a snowball.
A New Hampshire state law passed unanimously in the state Senate Thursday will make it a felony instead of a misdemeanor to intentionally throw an object or substance at police officers, firefighters or emergency medical personnel during a riot.
The new law comes in response to riots after sporting events at the University of New Hampshire and Plymouth State University last year.
In Durham, UNH students rioted in the streets following a hockey championship game. Some students were reported to have thrown bottles and cans at police officers attempting to keep the peace.
The legislation comes just one week after large-scale riots broke out in Boston after the Patriots' Super Bowl victory Feb. 1. One Northeastern University student was killed and three injured when a sport-utility vehicle gunned through the throngs of people that crowded the streets after the Patriots' win.
Anyone convicted under New Hampshire's new law would face a maximum felony sentence of up to seven years.
The law would "provide another tool for one piece of the problem, assaulting police," Sen. Iris Estabrook, D-Durham, who sponsored the legislation, told The Associated Press.
Senate President Tom Eaton said it was unfortunate such a law was necessary, but that he was glad it was passed.
Police chiefs from the college towns of Durham and Keene testified in support of the bill last month.
Hanover, though, has not witnessed the same problems with violent riots for many years. In 2002, protesters gathered outside Parkhurst Hall to protest the administration's cutting of the swim team. However, the crowd of protesters stayed peaceful, willing to voice their discontent by chanting on the steps of the administration building.
In 1969, a group of disgruntled students stormed Parkhurst in protest of the campus's ROTC program during the Vietnam War.
A crowd of nearly 1,000 assembled outside of Parkhurst with nearly 100 students and faculty inside the building leading the protest.
The protest was the largest in school history and resulted in many students being put in jail and on probation by the College; four were suspended and one expelled. But even that Vietnam protest and others like it were resolved non-violently.
The Senate also approved another bill on Thursday giving the state liquor commission the power to revoke liquor licenses temporarily in an emergency. While most bars voluntarily closed during the riots last year, others continued to serve alcohol to rioters, according to Sen. Robert Clegg, R-Hudson.
"This was requested [by the liquor commission] because of the recent riots in Durham," Clegg said.
In addition to the two bills passed last week, additional legislation is in the works in response to the university riots. Other bills under consideration by the legislature would establish mandatory minimum sentences for rioting, add penalties for anyone who injures police animals, and would prohibit those convicted of rioting from being present at any public college campus in New Hampshire for a period of time after conviction.
