National Marquette Day 2025 has been characterized as one of the university’s worst days of excess alcohol consumption in recent history. With this year’s NMD right around the corner, the Marquette Wire took a look at the data.
We requested call log records from the Marquette University Police Department for every NMD since 2018. Even though NMD was officially established in 1992, MUPD only retains records for seven years.
This data only accounts for calls made to MUPD and what the call was requesting. This does not include calls to outside emergency departments or MUPD encounters made in person. The data does not paint a complete picture of the number of people MUPD assisted, as not all contacts started with a phone call.
Here’s what we found:
Every type of request for service spiked in 2025 aside from hospital transports. However, university officials said at a 2025 University Academic Senate meeting staff were calling ambulances directly from the residence halls, totaling 14 transports.
MUPD received 20 calls for a sick/injured person in 2025 compared to the 11 in 2024, the largest jump. MUPD also reported one Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) in 2025.
But the increase in facilities service requests — when a Marquette facility staff member requests MUPD — was relatively small, rising from 18 in 2024 and 26 in 2025. Alcohol offenses in residence halls and off-campus locations jumped by two.
It wasn’t until NMD 2023 when calls for service in each category started reaching double digits.
The high volume of calls to MUPD on NMD 2025 has been widely attributed to the later-than-normal 7 p.m. tipoff time for the Marquette men’s basketball game, giving students all day to drink. However, 2025 wasn’t the first late game.Â
NMD 2026 is just two days away, with a 1 p.m. tip-off. MUPD and the university plan to increase police presence and hand out citations near campus and in the alleyway on 800 block of 17th Street, where an annual party normally takes place.
So, alley-goers, beware.
This story was written by Sophia Tiedge. She can be reached at [email protected].
