Town-gown relations

Durham neighborhood associations are urging Duke administrators and city officials to actively investigate several student-occupied houses near campus. The Durham Neighborhood Alliance is one of these increasingly vocal organizations advocating for the removal of “illegal” fraternity houses. Their allegations cite local occupancy codes that limit the number of non-related people living together and require special event permits for large gatherings. Fraught relations between Duke students and Durham residents have long existed in the University’s history but, as Duke becomes more established in the community, it is imperative to improve relations to coexist harmoniously.

Any effort to build better relations will require a bidirectional focus. On one hand, it will require a shift in mentality of students and local residents. Duke students need to realize that individual choices can quickly sour relationships with Durham neighbors. These conflicts between individuals and their neighbors, in turn, threaten all students’ opportunities to access off-campus housing in the future and unfairly prejudice the Duke community in the eyes of its neighbors. Furthermore, while local residents whose livelihoods are disrupted are right to be concerned about loud, disturbing parties that bring large crowds, excessive trash and dubious behavior into their neighborhoods, the optimal resolution in not necessarily to threaten students with evictions. Just as we as students need to understand the consequences of our behavior off-campus, Durham residents should realize that aggressively evicting students is excluding other solutions. While neighbors should not be forced to endure major disturbances, town-and-gown relations are a two-way street.

Yet, a shift in mentality for students and local residents cannot be the only solution. After all, Duke as a college has a fast turnover rate, with an entirely different group of students every four years. Students will continue to cycle through the neighborhood as long as rental properties are on the market, and it is tenuous at best to rely on each cohort to consistently abide by these standards without the sense of urgency being diluted over time.

The problem, then, is not solely with the people involved, but also with the institutional policies governing these local interactions. The University should coordinate efforts to minimize conflict, enacting clearer policies and practices for off-campus living that encourage peaceful co-existence with our neighbors. An example would be codified contracts for students living off campus that mandate stricter enforcement of violations within the Duke judicial system. However, it is important to recognize how past policies have shaped and amplified the relational problems with the local community now. Changes to campus policies governing social life and alcohol use has led greek life and SLGs to seek more lenient, off-campus spaces to hold their events. It is clear that these social housing policies need to be revisited in light of deteriorating neighborhood relations. Yet, the recent HDRL upperclassman housing quotas are a far cry from necessary reforms and face staunch resistance from the greek and SLG communities. Any policy is a choice between two sets of consequences, and forcing the majority of social life off campus is an increasingly untenable outcome for both students and their angry neighbors.

It is time to coordinate efforts between greek, SLG and independent student leaders and the Duke administration to more deliberately shape the spaces in which social and residential life manifest on campus. Otherwise, continuing this model of out-sourcing the more problematic elements of Duke’s social culture to the off-campus community will continue to burden the surrounding Durham neighborhoods.