Editorial | Why can’t we be friends?

Illustration by Kaz Fantone

In 1954, then-Chapman College moved from Los Angeles to charming, idyllic Orange. Sixty-four years, thousands of additional students and several new buildings later, the university and Orange residents are deadlocked in a continued conflict over land expansion, parties and what constitutes as neighborly behavior.

As recently as Aug. 22, a resident called the police to complain about an Orientation Week event for freshmen after hearing students belting out Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” well past Orange’s noise curfew of 10 p.m.

It’s easy to vilify that neighbor for shutting down a campus event intended for freshmen who just arrived at Chapman. But The Panther interviewed several residents this week who recounted experiences with Chapman students far worse than loud ’80s music.

Those residents described lawns littered with alcohol bottles, condoms and cigarette butts, students urinating against walls and an infamous 2015 Halloween party where one student was “crapping all up and down the sidewalk” while “completely drunk and wearing an Indian outfit,” according to one neighbor.

Based on data from the Orange Police Department, Chapman-related noise complaints almost doubled from 2015 to 2017. Orange’s noise ordinance, known more commonly as the “party ordinance,” was amended in 2016 so that party hosts and people who attend a “loud and unruly gathering” could be issued a misdemeanor citation or fined.

But Orange residents haven’t been the best of neighbors, either. At a 2016 city council meeting, neighbors wore anti-Chapman shirts and described female students as wearing FMPs (explitive me pumps). Just this week, The Panther interviewed Orange resident Steve Lichten, who said that if someone trespasses on his property, there’s a “chance they’re going to get shot.”

There’s wrongdoing on both sides, but peacefully coexisting in a cramped town like Orange isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity. It is just as unacceptable for neighbors to antagonize Chapman students as it is to urinate or defecate on someone’s property, but neither issue will be solved without both parties making an effort.

Being a good neighbor goes both ways. It’s hard to expect students to approach their neighbors and be communicative if students feel as if they’re already unwelcome, like sophomore health sciences major Sophie Gandesbery, who felt her new off-campus neighbors were immediately hostile to her and her roommates just because they attend Chapman.

It’s important to understandthat this is the first time living away from home, without the guidance of a parent for many students. Mistakes like accidentally leaving trash cans out overnight, like Gandesbury described, are bound to happen, but they are not an excuse for hostility or premature judgement.

And instead of throwing frequent wild and raucous parties, students should discuss with their neighbors the best day to have friends over and set a firm and reasonable curfew.

Being aware of residents with young children is also a basic common courtesy – it’s not too much for your neighbors to ask that you be quiet so their children can sleep. If you know you are living next to a family, you may have to resign yourself to the notion that loud parties may not be in your future – houses of friends who live next to other students might be a better setting for ragers.

Communication and face-to-face conversation may seem like oversimplified solutions, but they are the only way to determine whether residents and students will be friends or enemies. Despite the fact that college is often portrayed as a time to party and let loose, the reality is that most of us are adults, so it’s time for both students and residents to act like it.