Northwestern students furiously criticized both the administration and the city of Evanston at Tuesday’s Off-Campus Town Hall Meeting in response to Evanston’s vow to begin enforcing an ordinance in July that will limit apartment occupancy to three unrelated inhabitants.
Communication junior Maddy Bloch said the ordinance would negatively affect the NU community.
“I’m concerned this ordinance will spread the Northwestern community in a very thin layer all over Evanston,” Bloch said. “It will start to make Northwestern feel like a commuter college.”
According to Communication senior Kelsey Melvin, she came to NU for the community and campus beauty promised by college review books. Although she is graduating this year, she said she is worried the ordinance will affect her sister, a freshman, and the people who applied to NU this year.
“If I’m living two El stops away, (the campus beauty) is not going to be readily available to me,” Melvin said. “If we’re going to be spread out, we’re not going to be able to enjoy it.”
Some students also think that the noise and behavior violations that some students may be guilty of do not warrant a University-wide punishment.
“The 50 (city residents’) complaints Mr. Murphy cited reflect a very small percentage of the university’s students and I’m ashamed that’s how some Evanston residents think of my peers because it’s untrue for the majority of us,” said Communication junior Allison Finn.
Apart from the potential threats to NU’s sense of community, Associated Student Government’s Speaker of the Senate, Tyris Jones, said the ordinance will affect issues ranging from student safety to their financial capabilities to afford NU. According to Jones, the ordinance will force the administration to expand the Northwestern University Police Department, even though protecting the student body as a centralized entity is already difficult.
He also said that if the University expects students to move into apartments with higher rents, they should provide more financial aid.
“It’s hard for me to stretch my money right now,” the Weinberg junior said. “If you spike my rent up $300, (you had better have) another $300 in financial aid.”
Although both Dean of Students Burgwell Howard and Assistant Dean of Students Betsi Burns said they are having a constant dialogue with city officials, some students, like Weinberg senior Kristin Leasia , said they think that the University has more power than it is willing to admit or use.
“They have the economic might and fist to put pressure on the city,” Leasia said.
Communication sophomore Will Carlyon said he wants more administrative support.
“If they won’t stand up for us,” he said, “I don’t see why it’s a great school to come to.”
