Chapman’s student population has grown exponentially over the past 15 years – increasing 73 percent from 2000 to 2015, however, its enrollment has begun to plateau within the past few years, said Mike Pelly, vice chancellor for enrollment management.

Following the critical neighborhood eye on Chapman’s population growth in recent years, measures are being taken to ensure that expansions do not affect neighbors, he said.

“Specifically, though, the growth has been very slow and steady by design,” Pelly said. “(The enrollment increase plan) calls for about 2 percent growth of the freshman class, which translates to about 28 students (per year).”

Pelly also added that the increase in the student population is not as extreme as neighbors have made it out to be. However, many neighbors are still concerned about the impact that the increased number of students has had on the community.

“I think that there has not been enough attention paid by administration to the collateral impacts to the community infrastructure,” said Jim Karras, a resident of Orange. “The increase in neighborhood parties involving Chapman students is something that is really on our minds today.”

Karras stressed that neighbors do not take issue with individual Chapman students, but with the lack of opportunity the university has provided for housing on campus.

“I believe that the Chapman student population gives very positive contributions to our community,” Karras said. “Really, my issue is not necessarily with the students in their individual endeavors – it’s with the university administration in not appropriately providing for those impacts that increased enrollment has already brought to our university.”

Adam Duberstein, founder of neighborhood action organization Respect Orange, agreed.

“It doesn’t matter to me whether Chapman wants 9,000 or 50,000 students on its campus,” he said. “The issue that is important to me is that (Chapman) has to have the infrastructure to support what it has.”

Off-campus housing

Even if Chapman were to provide more on-campus housing, many students say they would still prefer to live in other houses or apartments.

“Living off campus has been the greatest,” said Kyle Butenhoff, a sophomore political science major. “There’s also a lot of freedom associated with not living at an institution but living with your best friends. It also forces you to take on a certain amount if responsibility that I didn’t have at the dorms.”

However, Butenhoff still agrees that expanding the space students reside in would be beneficial.

“I know with my room in particular, it was three-quarters the size of the regular rooms, but it still housed three people,” he said. “It was extremely cramped.”

Though no action has been taken to begin building alternate residence life areas, administration is planning to build new dormitories by the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

“We’re working closely with the city of Orange. I think they welcome it because it’ll absorb some of the rentals,” Pelly said. “I would like more residence halls because I think it creates more of a living and learning area on campus.”

In the meantime, Pelly stressed the importance of maintaining good relationships with Orange residents.

“We really need our students to be good stewards and good neighbors. But these are college kids, how do you, across the board, instill that?” Pelly said. “I sympathize with neighbors who live 5 to 10 feet away from a house with students next door.”

Greek row

Both neighbors and students agree that a Greek row, an area of a neighborhood with housing designated for members of fraternities and sororities, would be beneficial in improving neighborhood relations.

“There needs to be (a Greek row). It will happen sooner than people expect,” said Adam Mann, a senior television and broadcast journalism major. “Over a third of people are involved in Greek life at our school, so it’s kind of incredible. The whole idea of Greek life is living together as a community, and we don’t have that.”

Duberstein, who has been meeting with members of the Interfraternity Council at Chapman, agreed that a designated Greek row would not only satisfy students, but improve the quality of life for residents.

“(The council members) explained to me what their vision of a Greek row would look like at Chapman, and they also explained to me how their organizations are set up to support a Greek row,” Duberstein said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, if it’s collectively what the Greek organizations at Chapman want to.”

Other residents concurred.

“I believe that the university needs to listen to student requests for on-campus activities and seriously consider locating a Greek row in close proximity to the university,” Karras said.

Butenhoff agreed, saying that that if Chapman wants to continue its expansion, its administration needs to ensure that students have other living options other than dormitories.

“If (Chapman wants) to keep growing, it needs more options for student living,” Butenhoff said. “Unfortunately, college students don’t want to live in the dorms. College students want to live in (sorority and fraternity) houses and off-campus houses with their friends because it’s college.”

Duberstein feels that the university is not receptive to student or neighbor concerns and worries that the neighborhood’s action committees are being portrayed in an unfairly negative light.

“(Respect Orange has) gone to the university with these suggestions, and they just kind of fall on deaf ears,” Duberstein said. “These are really good kids, we need to support them and get behind what they want to do.”