Northwestern-Evanston’s town-gown relations added yet another tear Monday night when the Evanston City Council banned people under 21 from bars after midnight.
The city and NU have been on the fritz for years, and instead of having a gorgeous town-gown to show off to prospective students, the pair is presenting tattered threads unfit for an ugly step-sister.
Underage drinking legislation is just the beginning of the list of grievances between NU and Evanston. First Ward aldermanic candidate Judy Fiske is suing the school for encouraging students to vote. The community became furious at NU last year for expanding its campus with the purchase of the 1800 Sherman property.
Students cannot read our campus newspaper without being blasted by town residents for participating in local politics or condemned for our apathy about current affairs. Others mumble remarks about how NU’s presence increases their property taxes by resting on beachfront property. And an archaic ordinance even bars us from bowling in the city.
Of course, NU is hardly blameless; students’ loud parties and drunken acts disrupt Evanston residents. Regardless of which side is to blame for the tension, our problems are known nationwide, as shown by our No. 7 ranking in the Princeton Review’s list of worst city-university relations.
Though the school and its hometown have different goals, they need each other to survive. The school relies on the city’s beautiful landscape and great commercial district for students to feel at home and stay entertained. The town needs the university to give tourists a reason to stop by Evanston and enjoy its facilities.
Without NU, Evanston is just Skokie with a beach. Without Evanston, NU is a school in Chicago with black squirrels. So with such an interdependent relationship, why can’t the two sides just put aside their differences and get along?
Both parties need to focus on ending this bitterness before it permanently stains either reputation. Evanston residents need to recognize that, like it or not, Northwestern is not going to move a few miles away from the lake for the sake of their pocketbooks. They should accept the fact that students are going to make some noise during parties and that they will help shape the future of the community.
Students need to realize that a world exists outside of the college bubble. They should be respect their neighbors’ privacy and peace, try to lower noise levels and, of course, refrain from vomiting in their backyards.
While the feud is strong between the university and the city, courtesy and cooperation between residents and students can ease the tension. If we recognize our differences, we can make our overlapping worlds better for everyone. By patching up the relationship between NU and Evanston, we can create a town-gown princess would be proud to show off.
Matt Baker is a Medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].
