Frat row will end local harassment - It's Not That Simple

Imagine a Friday night in the not-so-distant future. Your friends are deciding where to go party. But instead of wandering around Charles Village, searching for the SAE house, then heading across campus to go to Phi Psi, you just take a three-block stroll down to the 3200 block of St. Paul and party all night.

Unfortunately, a scenario like this may be more wishful thinking then reality. Although Hopkins has reportedly been furiously buying property in the area, from row houses near the University Mini-Mart to the former WaWa house, there are no plans to create a consolidated fraternity row.

Although I have encouraged such a real estate purchasing initiative in the past, describing the desperate need for Hopkins to gentrify the Charles Village area by making it its own, it's disappointing that these plans seemingly neglect to see the similar importance of creating a strip of Baltimore dedicated to fraternal housing.

While some would claim that such plans would simply invite further criticism from our Charles Village neighbors, having a single, sanctioned block of fraternity housing would benefit the community. As Ira Young, Greek Life coordinator, explained, "It would definitely be beneficial to have a concentrated [Greek presence] in one area, versus a scattered one."

The benefits are immediately clear for local residents, who would no longer have to deal with noisy neighbors. Since students wouldn't be roaming through the area, but instead be in one place, we might be able to avoid scenes like the one I witnessed a few weeks ago, when a group of inebriated girls sang as they frolicked down my block, a man ran out of his front door and called out to his wife, "Call the police...I'm gonna kill those kids!"

Sadly, this is no exaggeration. I generally feel like non-Hopkins residents of Charles Village resent our presence. And although it's hard to care what they think when they seem so outraged by college students roaming the neighborhood on weekend nights, perhaps moving out of the neighborhood into our own block would be best.

This way, students would know exactly where to go to find a party. The atmosphere along the street would be unlike most weekend evenings at Hopkins, save for the block party at the beginning of the year that bore witness to huge crowds that, coincidentally, was along the 3200 block of St. Paul.

And like that night, if a police presence were required, it would probably not entail a couple cops breaking up a party and arresting a few brothers, but be in a more reasonable chaperoning capacity. This would result in fewer arrests and more safety for all involved.

Since the houses would conceivably be owned by Hopkins, the fraternity residents would be beholden to the good graces of the University. This would discourage the immature behavior that we saw earlier this year when WaWa brothers threw water balloons at pedestrians below.

The cost to Hopkins, meanwhile, would not be disproportionately great. One former fraternity residence of AEPi was sold for only $65,000. Local homeowners may be wise to squeeze more out of Hopkins, but the effort to obtain to a main social outlet for undergraduates would not be overlooked. And if Hopkins is already buying property, why not add to the grand plan? Without a fraternity row, any efforts to build a campus without holes would be wasted.

There is no guarantee that Hopkins would attract more students if it built a fraternity row. As Young said, such a commitment by Hopkins would probably not be a major factor in a students' decision to come here, especially since the Greek "system is a good size for the student population; it's not going to get bigger or smaller." But when prospective students see the commitment Hopkins has to student life, not just showing Matinee movies in Levering, it will get kids looking for a great education as well as a good college experience to come.

Of course, a fraternity row wouldn't be a cure-all. But in a school that has historically had trouble convincing people it is not just a place to learn science, it would go a long way.

I have made parallels between Hopkins and University of Pennsylvania before, but I think the analogy still holds. In addition to its neighborhood needing revitalization being the subject of concern for student residents, it has a proud Greek tradition, with expansive on-campus fraternal housing amidst an otherwise city campus. Such devotion to student concerns, social, safety or otherwise, should be emulated here.

While UPenn has been the en vogue school for the last half dozen years, there is no reason why Hopkins can't follow that model. By creating outlets for students and helping them establish a consolidated part of Charles Village, Hopkins could go a long way towards realizing this goal.