Many Brown students are attempting a rite of passage this school year, moving to their own houses or apartments for the first time. As they adjust to living on their own, local residents are also trying to adjust - and some are struggling.
Residents of Williams Street, in the area between Thayer and Governor streets, appear to have had a particularly tough time, having complained to both the University and the students themselves about rowdy behavior.
For example, one night last semester, loud street conversations roused Professor of English and Gender Studies Coppelia Kahn from her sleep twice. She wrote a letter asking her neighbors - all Brown students - to keep it down.
"I'm not a particularly light sleeper," said Kahn, who lives at 207 Williams St. and posted copies of her letter on five nearby front doors. "Students don't realize ... how much the sound carries. This is a narrow street with old wooden houses, close together. If you get out of your car at 2 a.m. and get engrossed in a conversation on the sidewalk ... I could join in and offer my opinion."
Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of Choral Activities Louis Frederick Jodry, who has lived at 209 Williams St. for about 10 years, said he has come to expect some disturbances from six student-inhabited buildings around his house.
"My impression is, twice a year, things will be completely chaotic and out of control at night," Jodry said, referring to the beginning and end of the academic year. He noted that, for example, "students often neglect to take out trash or removing trash bins from the street."
Another Williams Street resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity also said trash was a major concern.
"We find that there is noise ... you expect a certain degree of that when you live here," the resident said. "My pet peeve is the lack of civic pride in keeping the neighborhood clean." The resident said students left trash on the street when they vacated their houses at the end of last semester and "there were rats and squirrels tearing open bags. ... There was garbage everywhere and I ended up picking it up."
A group of non-student residents on Williams Street have joined an association called the Residents of Williams Street. Kahn said she considers herself a member of the association because she is on its e-mail list.
"It's really just a communication network, so that we let each other know when there's a problem," Kahn said. "Pretty much all we deal with is students. ... I think we were called into existence because of the noise and the garbage, and that's all I've ever gotten e-mails about."
Association spokeswoman Anne Hersh said the group wants the University to intervene in issues involving students living off campus.
"Any proactive, preventative measures taken by the University to communicate with students ... is what we appreciate and what we're looking for," Hersh said. "The University has done more than it's done historically" to control student behavior, but she added "there's always room for improvement."
"There are a lot of Brown students who don't spend their weekends getting drunk, disturbing the peace and breaking the law," Hersh said.
The University intervenes
After hearing complaints from Williams Street residents, University officals privately met with them, said Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president of campus life and dean for student life.
"We called all of the students who had registered addresses on Williams Street in and they met with the director of residential life" to discuss the issues, Klawunn said. Students who live off campus are "subject to the same code of conduct" as those on campus, she added.
Though Klawunn said her office follows up on neighbors' complaints about students, she added that anything off Brown's campus is technically in "the jurisdiction of the Providence Police." But Brown police officers, along with Providence Police officers, do respond to disturbances at student-leased houses, Police Lt. John Ryan said.
State and Community Relations Director Darrell Brown said relations between students and their neighbors have improved in the past three years because "students are much more aware of how to conduct themselves off campus ... and (of) the consequences for poor behavior off campus."
Brown also said landlords of students have also been "asked to be more proactive in dealing with their tenants."
"This is an ongoing effort that we have to constantly maintain. Once we fix it this year, the same process is in place for new students who decide to live off campus," Brown said. "We can always make improvements, but it's a whole lot better than it was two-and-a-half or three years ago."
Klawunn said the University has heard no complaints from Williams Street residents since the beginning of the semester. But she added it is important to remain proactive in reminding students about their responsibilities while living off campus.
"We tend to hear more when the weather's better and people are outside more," Klawunn said.
Community and Government Relations Liaison Deborah Dinerman said preparations were being made for "the onslaught of the warm weather" in the spring when "there could, potentially, be some problems" with off-campus student behavior. The University plans to send a letter to off-campus students to remind them of their responsibilities as neighbors this semester, Dinerman said.
Williams Street students react
Though Kahn posted her letter on five doors, it appears that only one group of students responded.
"Everyone's aware that there are people that are not Brown students living on this street," said Margot Kabalkin '08, who lives at 202 Williams St. Kabalkin said she and her roommates inform their neighbors before hosting parties and provide them with their cell phone numbers in case they are too loud.
But Kabalkin said residents have "bad expectations" of their student neighbors.
"It's understandable, given that I'm sure they've had plenty of bad experiences," Kabalkin said.
Kabalkin and other students living at 202 Williams St. said they don't think the University should get involved in neighborhood disputes.
"I understand why Brown is concerned about it because they get complaints," said resident Drew Durbin '08, but "respecting our neighbors is not, in my opinion, school-related."
"Everyone living off campus is an adult. ... We pay rent too," Kabalkin said. "They're not our babysitters."
Emily Polivy '08 lives at 116 Hope St. (on the corner of Williams) with seven other students. Though her house has not received complaints, she said she could understand the neighbors' grievances. She said "it definitely can be loud" on Williams Street.
"It's just impossible to sleep" on some nights, said Polivy, who runs a large box fan in her room to try to drown out the noise. She said the streets are loud after 2 a.m. on weekends, after the bars close. During warmer weather, she said students in a house on Williams Street near Brook Street are "always out on their porch late" - until 2 or 3 a.m.
"I like it because, you know, I'm safe" walking home, Polivy said. "I know those other people out. But I can see how they'd be really noisy."
In contrast, Lauren Engel '08, who lives at 153 Williams St., said she was "shocked" to learn neighbors had complained to the University about students.
"I think this is one of the most civil neighborhoods and streets that I could have imagined," Engel said. She and her seven other students share her building with their landlord, who has two small children, Engel said.
"If (our landlord) had a problem with us, there's no question in my mind he would have said something," Engel said. "He's never made a complaint to us about noise to us, ever, and I think we represent a very average noise level. We're not particularly quiet."
Nevertheless, "you can't expect to live here and not have to deal with the ramifications of living with 21- year-olds," Engel said. "It's just not a reasonable expectation."
