The Issue: Outcry after homecoming still a concern for BC
What we think: Neighbors should take school at its word
A few weeks ago, a YouTube video filmed by an angry Cleveland Circle resident caused a stir on campus after Boston College's loud homecoming dance, held outside in the Mod lot from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., angered neighbors up to a mile away from the University. After the dance, it came to light that the entertainment license that the Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC) obtained from the city only permitted the dance to continue until 11 p.m. Because noise complaints were filed long after this prescribed time, there has been talk around campus that Modstock - another traditional outdoor event hosted by the UGBC - could be in danger.
Though it has been confirmed that Modstock is not in jeopardy this academic year, we should still be concerned about homecoming, the culprit that caused so much concern in the community last month that Tom Keady, vice president for governmental community affairs, was forced to apologize to a group of 50 neighbors in attendance at a neighborhood association meeting.
What all involved parties - the University, the UGBC, the students, and the neighbors - must remember, though, is to not allow other concerns regarding the BC community - namely University expansion, the passage of the Master Plan, the possibility of residence halls on the Brighton Campus, the degradation of the neighborhood brought on by absentee landlords and the havoc students are known to wreak in the community - interfere with their judgment on this subject.
The Homecoming dance has been held in the same location, at the same time, for five years without significant issues or complaints. In past years, the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs recorded only two complaints generated by the dance; this year, The Globe reported that there were at least 15. The only thing that changed this year was the DJ who performed at the dance. A new DJ was chosen because students weren't satisfied with the last one. Now that the neighbors are not satisfied with the DJ chosen this year, as he seems to be the cause of the overly-loud bass bumping through the neighborhood at the late hour, we should again select another DJ and let that be that.
There is no need for a fun activity that has typically taken BC students out of the surrounding community and back onto campus to be threatened because of one bad year, and a situation like this presents another important opportunity for dialogue and compromise between the University and neighbors. After tempers have cooled, we hope that the neighbors will be willing to accept the apologies of Keady and University Spokesman Jack Dunn. We understand that it was inappropriate for our dance to be so loud that it could be heard all the way in Cleveland Circle. We understand that BC students have become more of a presence within the community since the days when BC was a commuter school and inexperienced off-campus students were not around to be taken advantage of by absentee landlords. We understand that the expansion of the University has caused a number of our neighbors to fear that they are living on a college campus and not just near one.
Homecoming may have been a manifestation of this fear for some of them. However, these current circumstances should not lead people to overreact and bludgeon the dance - typically enjoyable for all - to death. Neighbors should take the University's word for what it's worth - that this has not happened in the past five years and will not happen again - and not ruin a fun tradition because of one mishap, which was apologized for profusely.
On the other hand, we hope that the event's student planners will take the noise complaints generated by this year's dance into consideration as they make arrangements for other outdoor traditions like Arts Fest and Modstock.
This is the sort of compromise members of the Allston-Brighton community have been asking of BC administrator's for years, so let's all put those words into action and keep the homecoming tradition alive. All that can be asked of both BC and the community is a spirit of cooperation that will reasonably satisfy all parties, in the hopes of avoiding conflict and unproductive finger-pointing.
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