Hartford - The University of Connecticut is planning to put at least a one-year moratorium on the annual tradition of pre-exam partying and drinking known as Spring Weekend.

UConn President Philip Austin on Thursday accepted the recommendations of a task force that was formed in the wake of last year's April parties, which resulted in 84 arrests and the death of junior Jafar Karzoun, who died after being punched outside a campus restaurant.

Among other things, the task force called for banning guests in UConn dorms during the weekend before spring semester's exams and canceling university-sponsored Spring Weekend events. It also asked students to participate in a voluntary moratorium on off-campus Spring Weekend parties out of respect for the deaths of Karzoun and football player Jasper Howard, who was fatally stabbed on campus in October 2009.

"The safety of our students is paramount, and I believe we must do everything we can to eliminate the risk of violence during the particular weekend in question and throughout the year," Austin said in a release.

The Spring Weekend tradition began in the 1960s as a way for students to blow off steam before exams. As it grew, more nonstudents began taking part in the unsanctioned gatherings at several off-campus apartment complexes and a university parking lot known as X-lot.

In 1998, the school decided to close the parking lot during Spring Weekend, and a riot ensued resulting in numerous injuries and arrests.

According to the report, crowds at Spring Weekend parties since 1998 have grown from roughly 4,000 people to as many as 15,000. The school says 83 percent of those arrested last spring were not students.

The task-force report called Spring Weekend a "magnet for toxic behavior and criminality."

"We're hopeful that we can break the cycle of negative behaviors and find a way to recapture the opportunity to celebrate the end of the year in a way that is safe and respectful of not only the campus community, but beyond," said John Saddlemire, the school's vice president for student affairs and a member of the task force.

X-lot popularity

While the main attractions of Spring Weekend have been the unsanctioned drinking parties, the school has attempted to provide students with sanctioned alternatives including concerts, mud volleyball tournaments and other activities. The report found that approach did not work.

"You can't outprogram the draw that seems to be apparent in a large crowd in X-lot," Saddlemire said. "So the feeling was, let's just take that weekend off in total and have nothing in particular that students will have a reason to stick around for. Hopefully, many people will go home."

Saddlemire said they have asked police to help discourage people from visiting campus by setting up drunk-driving check points, and closing some roads and parking lots.

The report acknowledged there may be some resistance to the plan from students who "see Spring Weekend as an entitlement."

Tom Haggerty, the president of the school's student government, said he's been hearing mixed reaction from fellow students.

"We have a lot of people who are totally against Spring Weekend, and we have a lot of students who are totally for it," he said. "There's definitely a problem, and something needs to be done about it."

Haggerty, 21 and a political science major from Stratford, said his organization is crafting a position that he hopes will represent the majority of students, and plans to vote on that Wednesday.

The report was issued a day before 19-year-old Edi Rapo of East Hartford is due back in court on manslaughter charges.

Authorities say Rapo punched the 20-year-old Karzoun of Milford once in the face last April 23. Karzoun fell to the ground, hit his head and died a week later.

Rapo, who was not a UConn student, was initially charged with second-degree assault and breach of peace. He told police he didn't intend or expect to knock out Karzoun.