The term "town-gown relations" has become a clich?© at Tufts, but not without reason: students have a general perception of the surrounding cities, and the residents of Medford and Somerville have their impressions of students as well.
Sometimes, those impressions are negative: after complaints last week about noisy partying, those Tufts students living at 90 Bromfield Rd. were told to take down the "Chi Tau Delta" sign they had hung on their house, giving the impression that they were a fraternity.
Such antipathy-provoking incidents, however, are generally on the decline, according to Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn.
"My first year as mayor, which was 18 years ago, there were kids just partying in the streets," McGlynn said. "We sat down, had a few meetings, and with the exception of one incident last year, we haven't had a problem since."
That incident took place during an outdoor concert last year, when speakers positioned on the Hill broadcast profane language to the surrounding community.
Students have varying feelings on the way they are perceived by that surrounding community.
"My original impression was that everyone hated us," sophomore Rachel Barbarisi said. "But I ran into a woman walking her dog on campus one day and started talking to her, and she said she likes the campus because it's a nice environment. In general, the people around us seem to have a pretty fair perception of Tufts."
Another factor in how the surrounding communities view students and the University is a socio-economic one, according to one student.
"It's a social-demographic thing," senior Mark Chernausek said.
"Lower-income families appreciate the jobs Tufts creates, but more affluent people probably see us as a nuisance."
The split in opinions also depends on the interactions between students and their community.
"If you speak to surrounding neighbors who have had issues with parties and noise, then I suppose they don't think too highly of us," said junior Erin Poth, Co-President of the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS).
"However, if you talk to community members that we deal with - for example local school officials involved in Kids' Day, people at the Medford/Somerville YMCA, or local parents who are having their children tutored by Tufts students through LCS tutoring - they'll tell you how helpful students have been and how they add a lot of positive things to the community," Poth said.
Recently, Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate President Dave Baumwoll opened up a series of panel discussions involving prominent members of the Medford and Somerville communities and the Tufts community.
"It's an opportunity to create a dialogue so the communities can understand each other better," said sophomore Robert Kim, a TCU Senate member.
Groups like LCS, the TCU, and the Greek system all sponsor large community-oriented events throughout the year. These include Community Day, Halloween on the Hill, and Kids' Day.
Currently, LCS is working on improving Community Day to bring the Tufts and outside communities closer. "We're working on extending it - we want to work on bringing the community onto campus to show potential cooperation and create a joint relationship between all the surrounding communities and Tufts," junior and LCS Co-President Mari Pullen said.
Students' efforts do not go unnoticed by community leaders. "Read by the River is certainly a great community event, and a great learning event," McGlynn said.
One student recognized the importance of days like these, but said that they are not necessarily enough to foster strong community ties: "They are only two days out of an entire academic year," Kim said.
Some students criticize the Greek system for a lack of commitment to community service. While involvement in campus events is typical, some Greek houses expand beyond the immediate area.
"We branch out to different places, like downtown Boston, where people are really needy," said Chernausek, a brother in Theta Delta Chi.
Every student interviewed expressed the desire to improve relations between the various smaller communities at Tufts and the larger communities off-campus. "The Greek System and its leaders are willing to work with the surrounding communities to do our part to make things better," junior and Inter-Greek Council President Alexis Liistro said.
The general consensus among those interviewed is that students can best develop community relations by taking an active role. "I'd like to see more students wanting to be involved in the community, especially during tough economic times, doing internships or taking projects in the community," McGlynn said.
Kim agreed. "Tufts students need to go out into the community and start volunteering and helping people out," he said.
Another factor may simply be making the community aware of what Tufts students do in the area. "I think that students in all organizations should be more aware of the surrounding neighbors, and include them or inform them of the events that go on," Liistro said. "I feel that it would help foster stronger relations and help everyone feel more connected."
Many students believe that the only way the surrounding communities will see that Tufts students are more than just "partiers" is by adding to the community in positive ways.
"If you think about it, the majority of the interaction they have is calling the police to break up a party or to scare kids away from their front lawns," Kim said. "Students have to take the initiative to show Somerville and Medford that there's another side to us than the party side."
