Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Students living in Rosedale Heights and residents of Ames Place gather on Kingsbury Boulevard to eat and mingle during Sunday’s block party. The gathering was planned by Student Union to enhance communication between students and residents.

On Sunday evening, the scene at the intersection of Melville Avenue and Kingsbury Boulevard was nothing short of wholesome. At a block party sponsored by Student Union, some students flipped burgers as others supervised children with Play-Doh and still others made conversation with elderly neighbors.

The concept of a “block party” is a novel one on Kingsbury and neighboring streets, where the relationship between Washington University students and their residential neighbors has often been characterized by tensions over noise complaints.

“It’s really two neighborhoods in one,” said Cheryl Adelstein, the University’s director of community relations. Rosedale Heights, a neighborhood that consists largely of apartment buildings, closely borders Ames Place, a private subdivision made up of primarily single-family homes.

Over the past 12 years, the University has bought many properties in Rosedale Heights, including Greenway Apartments, which are operated by the Office of Residential Life, and several buildings on Kingsbury, which are operated through Quadrangle Housing, a University affiliate. Over the past 15 years, there has been a demographic shift, according to Adelstein, with more and more buildings that were once occupied by a combination of undergraduates, graduate students and University faculty now occupied exclusively by undergraduates. This shift has changed the nature of the neighborhood.

“Students keep different hours from people who work nine to five—they get up late, stay up late, socialize in large groups,” Adelstein said. “We think it’s important for students to understand that there are a lot of people here who keep different hours, and whatever we can do to restore the norms of the community [is] greatly appreciated.”

Last spring, it became apparent to Adelstein, her colleagues in the administration and leaders in the student body that something in neighborhood dynamics needed to change. In March, the enforcement of a “zero-tolerance” policy led the University City Police Department to begin issuing citations and making arrests for noise complaints.

“A lot of students said it made them feel really uncomfortable and excessively targeted,” said senior Kevin Cleland, a second-year off-campus residential advisor. “It was difficult for a lot of my residents to understand because a lot of them had never been in a situation where they were on the wrong end of the law…. They could definitely relate to why the [permanent] residents were upset, but to them, it seemed excessive.”

Over the summer, Adelstein and her colleagues took strides toward improving neighborhood relations, issuing letters to students living off campus about expected behavior and working through Residential Life and SU to create a sense of norms about the appropriate pathways to take when walking to parties off campus.

This fall, a group called the Neighborhood Voice will invite permanent residents to meet with students on a monthly basis to talk about neighborhood issues. Additionally, the Office of Government and Community Relations hired a new administrator, Jenni Harpring, to act as a “neighborhood liaison.” Harpring will live in the Rosedale Heights neighborhood and will be available as a resource to students as they communicate with their neighbors.

“Last year, there was no communication [between students and residents] other than through the police. This year, it’s gotten a lot better,” said junior Michael Kipnis, who lives on Kingsbury.

As Sunday’s gathering demonstrated, students have taken action toward improving relationships simply by talking with their neighbors. According to Cody Katz, SU vice president of public relations, hosting the barbecue was an attempt to make contact between students and other residents, who may otherwise not know much about one another’s lifestyles.

“When you put a face and a name and a whole story to these people who you’re presumably angry at, it changes things,” said Katz. “Part of this is just about getting to know each other.”

Tim Rice, who has lived in Ames Place for 50 years, came to the barbecue to meet his younger neighbors.

“There have been some problems with noise and litter and that sort of thing,” Rice said. “But it’s always nice to have young people around who have a lot of energy and bring a certain amount of excitement to the neighborhood.”

Arian Hassanalizadeh, a senior who lives on nearby Washington Avenue, was frustrated last spring when two of his friends were arrested after a neighbor mistook a Tuesday night band practice for a party and called the police. But on Sunday, Hassanalizadeh was impressed with the barbecue and with the neighbors’ willingness to socialize.

“The fact that this is Wash. U. reaching out to the U. City community is something that I’ve never really witnessed since I’ve been here,” Hassanalizadeh said. “People here have been very friendly; they’ve been very happy to talk about how the area has changed over time. To be able to converse and find common ground with people, that’s what I’ve gotten out of this.”

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Children play at a Play-Doh table.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Officer Marc Alexander of the Washington University Police Department talks to students about police patrols on the block.

It is perilous to step into an argument (recounted in “Student arrest spurs questions about zero tolerance policy,” [April 16]) that has caused both sides to seem, at times, quite silly. On the whole, University City residents have come out seeming dumber, because any support, explicit or implicit, of a zero-tolerance policy that immediately presumes guilt and then arrests the supposedly guilty parties is unjust, particularly when the offense is living in an apartment building where a party is occurring.

You will notice that on the north side of Kingsbury Avenue, the streets lack speed bumps and they lack signs that limit parking to residents.

Washington University students have seemed to take a more reasonable tone. (I refer largely to the comments in the above-mentioned article and “Students speak out against University City’s zero-tolerance policy at City Council meeting,” [April 14]) They recognize the right to protest certain disturbances, but they decry the authoritarian means used to quell such disturbances.

You will notice that in the Skinker/DeBaliviere area, at the corner of Waterman and Skinker, a set of church bells resounds every quarter hour in tones of up to 20 seconds in length.

I think the problematic crux of the argument, leaving aside the absurd extremes of arrests committed for ludicrously minor offenses and of students urinating and littering in residents’ yards, is the idea that students seem to have, and that residents seem to defy, the “right to party.” This crux is problematic because, as easy as it is to argue for the negative freedom from being arrested upon coming home from the laundromat, it is much harder—or, more accurately, it seems illegitimate in some way—to argue for the positive freedom to have fun by making a moderate to loud amount of noise and by enjoying the company of a whole lot of different people at once. One feels hesitant, however much one believes in it, to stand up in court and argue for the right to have a good time.

You will notice that at the corner of Rosedale and Waterman, another church rings throughout the neighborhood on the hour and the half hour; that at noon and six, its bells toll for an even longer time; and that on Sunday at 10:45 a.m., it plays a whole host of tunes unignorable to anyone within a half-mile distance.

For me, the problematic moral situation here—whether large quantities of “fun” ought to be shut down by the much slighter inconveniences they cause to others—pervades the college experience. I lived in an old dorm freshman year, and initially it was next to impossible to fall asleep until 4 or 5 a.m. on a weekend night if you, like me, had mononucleosis and needed to rest. But to my credit, I did not call the police on these nights. Instead, I dealt with it and by the end of the year had taught myself to sleep through anything.

You will notice that a college student doing his or her homework, trying to finish, say, “The Tale of Genji”, the oldest novel in the world, for Monday, will be able to make no progress whatsoever between 10:45 and 11:00 a.m. if he or she lives in the Residential Life apartments on Waterman.

But now, if I want to extend my practice to a prescription for University City residents, I will be told, “It is our right to be free from noise and disruption!” Well, sure. That’s why this article analyzes a problem instead of making a prescription; one can’t very well argue, morally speaking, that U. City neighbors ought to suck it up and allow us to violate laws even if it messes with what they think is their well-being.

But frankly, they should. It’s very easy to call the police about something you find annoying in your neighborhood, something that makes you feel just a little less comfortable. It’s very difficult—quite a bit more of an inconvenience—to be arrested, to go to court, to pay $250 for living in a apartment near a party or for—God forbid—hosting one.

For University City residents, calling the police may be an OK thing to do, a morally acceptable one, in some of these situations. But many students at the University, from time to time, operate according to the mandates of a different and far less easily argued-for rubric: what is cool, what is fun, what adds to the zeal of life.

And according to that rubric, the U. City residents at fault here are neither cool nor fun. They have no zeal for life. Instead, in the argot that might find its way into many of our mouths, they suck.

Police Chief Don Strom addressed our concerns in a recent interview. When asked about the recent noise complaints, he remained respectful toward student needs, saying, “We’ve tried to partner with the U City police to try and address these issues…and assist them in creating a quality of life for students in those neighborhoods.” He acknowledged that a large portion of the increase in complaints may simply be due to the fact that people have new ways to complain: Social networking has made it easier to express concerns about the community.

However, Strom also emphasized that the potential for off-campus parties to get out of control is high, and that students often inhabit the same neighborhoods as families “that may go to bed at 10 p.m.” For WUPD, it is essential that University students remain respectful toward ordinances that forbid outdoor consumption of alcohol and the distribution of trash in yards. But, Strom says, students can often address their neighbors’ concerns themselves: “It would be helpful for them to talk to their neighbors and understand what their neighbors deem to be acceptable.”

Socializing forms a key component of the experience at the University, and students living off campus in their own apartments—many of whom are over 21—should be allowed to socialize responsibly at large gatherings involving alcohol, just as WUPD’s policy enables students living on the South 40, the North Side and in fraternity houses to do.

Because WUPD’s policy has been liberal toward underage drinking, this campus has been a safer—and arguably better—place. As legal adults, we are allowed to experiment with alcohol safely and on our own terms, developing a safe relationship with the substance—one that is not over-dependent or secretive. The risks of binge drinking—the kind of drinking that goes on quietly and behind closed doors—are high. Students with alcohol poisoning may not seek help if they feel that charges will be pressed, and often, “pre-gaming”—drinking before events where alcohol is forbidden—leads to irresponsibly rapid consumption. Rape and sexual assault are more likely to occur in alcohol-charged situations, and are less likely to be reported when a good relationship does not exist between party-goers and the authorities.

We commend WUPD for its historic understanding of our social world and its commitment to our safety. We encourage students and their neighbors to engage in a dialogue that promotes a mutually-respectful attitude toward partying so that this social world—a safe and enjoyable environment—can persist without problems.

Josh Walehwa, associate director of Residential Life, e-mailed members of Student Union (SU), various Greek organizations, class council leaders, the North Side Association and various University officials, inviting them to a brainstorming session.

More 15 students representing various student organizations attended to learn about the issue and devise strategies to address the complaints.

“It’s nice that the administration is taking a step forward but also working really hard to include student leaders,” said junior Michael Post, SU senator and recorder for Sigma Nu’s executive board. “There was a lot of active communicating, engaging and brainstorming.”

In addition to Walehwa, Dean of Students Justin Carroll, government-relations official Cheryl Adelstein and Residential College Director Ashley Swanson-Hoye were also in attendance.

Each of the officials presented various aspects of the issue while emphasizing that only a small number of students were creating the University’s poor reputation in the surrounding neighborhood.

Adelstein showed several letters from community members that praised University seniors who participated in Service 4.0 last week, though she also read aloud numerous complaints of residents who raised concerns about the noise of students returning from off-campus parties, beer cans tossed into yards, and stolen signs, among others.

In one instance, students urinated on a resident’s lawn. In a separate incident, students also drew lewd images on the windows of a car.

The University received complaints from residents of Ames Place, a private neighborhood which sits between the Loop and the Danforth Campus. Other complaints came from neighbors living on Trinity and Kingsland avenues, Washington Avenue and Greenway, Greenway Walk and Melville Avenue, and Forsyth Boulevard.

Officials emphasized that the problem is not students living in the community, but rather the small percentage of students on the way to or from off-campus visits with friends.

“It goes back to most people [not realizing] how much noise they make outside the Wash. U. bubble,” said senior Kevin Smith, Interfraternity Council president.

After the discussion, student leaders were asked for their input on how to combat the disruptive behavior. Ideas ranged from a task force to posters on residential walls to events aimed at stimulating discussion.

“There were some easy solutions that could help to a certain extent by educating the off-campus community better, [or by] providing recycling containers to throw garbage away rather than throwing it on the ground,” Smith said.

“[There] seemed to be a general consensus that we all wanted to increase the personal relationships between students and neighbors,” said junior Robyn Michaelson said, and SU senator.
Student leaders emphasized the need for student groups to conduct programming and student involvement in administration efforts.

Efforts have been made in the past by the Office of Residential Life and some student groups to interact with the community. Swanson-Hoye, who runs off-campus housing, said University students living in University Drive and Greenway helped with a local Halloween festival last year.

The University also publishes a semesterly newsletter to inform nearby residents of campus news and runs a Web site specifically for them, too.

At the meeting, Junior Andrew Bort, president of Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT), an off-campus fraternity located on Forsyth, shared two ways his fraternity interacted with the neighborhood.

Bort said fraternity members introduced themselves to neighbors and provided contact information. ZBT also hosted a community-wide barbecue.

“We have to introduce ourselves to our neighbors and put a friendly face behind the Wash. U. student stereotype,” said Fernando Cutz, senior class president. “It’s going to be hard to change everybody all at once. If we can reach out to a large enough group, they can serve as ambassadors to our cause.”

Cutz outlined a proposal for a town hall forum between residents and the University students, culminating in a community dinner.

“It’s a matter of starting a culture at Wash. U. of neighbor respect,” Cutz said.

Several students at the meeting expressed interest in joining a committee to further explore long-term solutions.

“It needs to be a sustained effort,” Michaelson said. “We [need] to continue forming these relationships with the new classes each year.”