The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D, a local government group, voted last week to give conditional approval to AU's planned renovations to the McKinley building. The D.C. Zoning Commission will vote on final approval of the project March 15 but generally requires an exemption granted by the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
The Commission issued 16 conditions, some of which were entirely unrelated to the McKinley project. Residents complained in particular about underage drinking and noise from off-campus houses where AU students live. The most relevant to AU students are the requirements that the university provide sufficient housing for students and form a "Neighborhood Action Program" to address student conduct off campus.
Though residents may have valid complaints about noise from off-campus houses, conditionally approving the expansion of SOC is not the way to deal with them. The expansion of McKinley and relocation of SOC will in no way cause off-campus students to make more noise or engage in more underage drinking.
On a side note, local residents are not necessarily out of line in voicing their complaints, but should not be surprised considering they moved into a neighborhood near a university. Living near college students raises noise levels, on campus or not. If residents have a problem with off-campus noise and underage drinking, they should call the police and report it. If students are mature enough to live out of the watchful eye of Public Safety, they should be able to deal with the consequences of real-world living, including visits from the police.
One ANC member suggested that AU use Georgetown as a guide to remedy the situation. There's one key difference, though: Georgetown doesn't have a dry campus, so students can party on campus, away from neighbors.
Ultimately, it isn't the university's place to regulate off-campus behavior. College students are adults and should be treated as such by university administrators and their neighbors.
