Administrators and undergrads agree that the recently implemented policy governing off-campus parties is easing tensions between community members and the school. Nevertheless, some students still express concern regarding the effectiveness of the three-strike policy one week after its implementation.
According to University officials, the number of complaints decreased: "[There were] not a lot [of complaints], not many compared to years past," Associate Dean of Students Dorothy Sheppard said.
The reaction of students to the policy is far from unified, though many argue that some reform is necessary. They disagree, however, on the contentious issue of the three-strike policy, which many perceive to be a tightening of the University's reins on students who live off-campus.
Some students, such as President of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Nick Black, feel that while they understand the school's intentions, the policy is still in need of revision. He said, "I don't understand how the school and the police can tell private residents what do to, but they do have the right to take care of their students; it's an interesting issue."
Black said that some members of his fraternity are frustrated because they had been working on these issues before this policy was enacted.
"I think some of the brothers are pretty much against it because they don't see a need to change anything. I think It's not actually going to affect us that much 'cause we haven't had any problems in the last three years," Black said.
This contradicts the sentiments of Executive Assistant to the President Jerry Schnydman, who has said that in his 30 years at Hopkins -- including the four he spent as a student -- relations between community members and students have never been this strained.
President of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity Brian Kinsella said, "I wholeheartedly feel that the school is implementing this policy for better relations with the neighbors, but also to show the Baltimore police that they are trying to take care of the students internally so that students don't end up with criminal records or tarnished academic records."
There were three parties registered for this past weekend -- two on Friday night, and one on Saturday.
Eli Shindleman, treasurer of the Alpha Epsilion Pi fraternity which hosted Saturday night's party, said that they registered the event with Coordinator of Greek Life Robert Turning, and had had a meeting with him about what was expected of off-campus hosts.
Perhaps the most hailed of the new changes is the appointment of Carrie Bennet, a former Hopkins Security officer to the position of Student Community Liaison.
Shindleman explained that Bennett stopped by the party, but "She wasn't there to get us in trouble, she was there to monitor and make sure things were okay."
He added, "She said we were doing a great job of keeping people inside and making sure the surrounding of the house was quiet."
On Friday night, Sigma Alpha Epsilon hosted an event. Kinsella admitted that the fraternity did not get a chance to register with the school, but he said that Bennett was present and helpful regardless.
"We had a lot of people come [to Friday's event], and Carrie worked with us throughout the night."
According to Kinsella, the fraternity had two sober brothers stationed in front of the house, and Kinsella along with his risk manager were outside monitoring people coming and going. "[Bennett] let me know what needed to get done to make sure we wouldn't get in any trouble, and we didn't get any strikes," He said.
"Carrie is doing an excellent job as the liaison," he added. "She's working with us to make sure we don't get issued a strike ... [and are] compliant with the school's policy."
"I witnessed Carrie actually stopping students from urinating in public and students that had open containers. She's looking out for them, making sure they don't get in trouble. She's genuinely trying to make sure no student gets in trouble," Kinsella said.
Agreeing with Kinsella's praise for Bennett, Black expressed that there was still some confusion as to what sort of incident merits a strike and exactly what the difference is between having friends over and having a party.
He said that because of this uncertainty, "We're going to register every weekend to cover all bases."
"As long as it's not set in stone, I think it can work out well for everybody. ... I think there needs to be more incorporation of the students for input with the policy." said Black.
Because last week's meeting with juniors and seniors was poorly attended, Black suggested some ways to help spread information.
"I think they should have some fraternity presidents and some different student leaders come to a meeting and explain things and let those people go back to their groups and tell them what's going on," Black said.
Junior Katie Thorpe, who celebrated her 21st birthday this past weekend, had told her neighbors and landlord about the event in advance, yet was still concerned about getting a strike.
"I had to talk seriously with my roommate about the potential of us getting into trouble," Thorpe said.
She added, "People shouldn't have a party on a Tuesday at two in the morning. But as long as it's okay with our landlord, I don't see why we can't have a party on the weekend."
The administration emphasized during last week's meeting with students that it is only a selection of houses the neighborhood is concerned with. Dean of Undergraduate Education Paula Burger said, "The majority of our students who live off campus are good neighbors."
Jerry Schnydman, executive assistant to the president, said, "If a student is of age and drinking and can control his/her behavior, then no one's going to intrude on their fun."
Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell said, "A lot of the details of this [revised policy] are very much a work in progress. I would ask [critics of the policy] to receive this with an open mind."
Junior Jennifer Snodgrass, who served on the Task Force on Neighborhood Relations said of her neighbors, "They're really not out to get us." She feels that Charles Village and surrounding area residents simply wish to see that Hopkins students care about the community.
"I think the only place you can go from here is up," she added.
Teresa Bruno, a senior who also attended meetings of the Task Force, agreed, urging students to "Give it time; let it go into place; see how it goes. ... The school is extremely receptive to people's input."
The school has noted an improvement in the situation since the policy was announced.
Bennett said her experiences have been positive so far. "The protest I guess I'd expected hasn't happened. Everyone's been very polite to me. Everyone's been very respectful. ... I've never had to go back to the same place twice."
Dorothy Sheppard, associate dean of students, said, "I think we're feeling a big improvement. Students are being more responsible, they're being more respectful of noise limits."
She added, "The neighbors feel like students have cleaned up and are cleaning up after themselves."
-- Additional reporting by Stephen Berger
