Duke University lacrosse players have made university-neighborhood relations front-page news lately.
Thankfully, no local players are charged with raping and beating anyone. But it does not mean that a Duke event could not happen in Baltimore. Sharp racial and socioeconomic divisions ? both of which exist here in Baltimore ? segregated Duke students and Durham residents. That situation paved the way to conflict there and could here.
And it?s not as if tensions don?t already exist between local communities and students. Baltimore police officers routinely detain students for drinking and making too much noise.
Unfortunately, that?s not likely to change.
Independence and a disdain for authority mark campus culture. And at universities like Johns Hopkins, where many students come from privileged backgrounds or are privileged with scholarships, students feel entitled.
A student?s college experience is almost solely defined by that concept of privilege. They view their education as a catalyst to high-paying jobs and access to those in power at elite institutions and clubs. Their view of the university is that it exists to serve their interests. Caring about the community where they live does not figure high on most students? priority lists.
But many times the city government and neighbors care more about retaliating against students than finding ways to integrate them into communities.
This past school year, for example, Baltimore Police raided parties and detained and arrested students. Members of the City Council sparked campus outrage when they proposed a law that would threaten tenants of so-called “noise boxes,” ? fraternity houses, with eviction. One council member said they aimed the law primarily at Loyola University students. But with residents dialing 911 so frequently, and police reacting harshly, the measure worried students throughout the city and did little to help mend the tension between the city and its universities.
So what can we do? University administrators need to appease their neighbors and city officials while remaining loyal to their students? needs. Ignoring or supporting one side could have devastating effects. We?ve seen that at Duke, where the administration neglected to punish its lacrosse team?s excessive lifestyle and festering town-grown tensions erupted.
But, short of banning Greek life on campus, there is little universities can do to keep college students from being, well, college students. The answer, however, isn?t necessarily to accommodate unlawful behavior, but rather to bring students and the communities in which they live together. If they don?t, neither side will understand the other?s concerns.
So when the rare opportunity comes along to bring university students and their neighbors face to face ? like Hopkins? recent attempt to move its annual Spring Fair into nearby Charles Village ? we should take advantage of it.
But the city and its residents have thus far seemed reluctant to do it. When Hopkins suggested moving the fair, community leaders gave students and university officials an unequivocal “no,” strengthening already-intense feelings of resentment.
Community leaders must compromise instead of saying “no” if they want to improve relations between community residents and students.
If neighbors can stop dialing 911, the city can stop threatening students and police can stop detaining partygoers. At that point, all the groups can start talking, giving universities the chance to start taming the persistent sense of entitlement among their students.
Baltimore, like Durham was, may only be one drastic incident away from an all-out battle between the community and students. Preventing one should be a top priority for both local universities and community groups.
Sal Gentile will be a junior at Johns Hopkins University next year. He is managing editor of student newspaper, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, and can be reached at [email protected].
