A Chapel Hill program hopes to convince college students to turn down the volume by welcoming them to the community and teaching them the history of their residences.
The Good Neighbor Initiative aims to make a difference in Chapel Hill by encouraging students to be a positive influence in the area and celebrate community living between students and non-student residents. The initiative was founded in 2004 by the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Aaron Bachenheimer, the Executive Director of Off-Campus Student Life and Community Partnerships at UNC, said the group’s purpose is to welcome students and introduce them to their neighbors to create a welcoming and inclusive environment.
“They took some folks out into the near campus and downtown neighborhood and knocked on some doors of some houses that over the previous few years had been hotspots for things like loud noise, trash and parking issues,” Bachenheimer said. “There was a notice that students were changing in those houses, but the problems were staying the same year after year.”
UNC student Sophie Dubois got involved with the Good Neighbor Initiative through the Jackson Center — an affordable housing non-profit that does work in history preservation and community building within the historically Black neighborhoods in Chapel Hill.
The focus of the Jackson Center is maintaining, capturing, sharing and preserving history, and Dubois said it’s crucial for students to learn they are a part of a historically important community.
“They answer to some concerns within the neighborhood about the relationship between long-term residents and the students moving in, and acting on those proactively by letting students know that these long-term residents aren’t their enemies,” Dubois said. “They aren’t mad that they’re there, they just want people to know about the history of their neighborhood and why they should be treating this neighborhood with respect.”
Bachenheimer added that it’s beneficial to introduce students and permanent residents to each other to improve their quality of living and overall living experience.
“I think sometimes there’s a misperception in both directions at times, that students are wary of permanent neighbors and think that permanent neighbors don’t want them there, and permanent neighbors are sometimes a little apprehensive of, ‘Oh, well, students are just here, they think students are going to live in a student neighborhood and party all the time,’” Bachenheimer said.
Students can register a party they’re hosting with the university or town. If they receive a noise complaint, they will get a text asking to them turn the volume down rather than the police getting involved.
Bachenheimer emphasized Chapel Hill is more than just a college town. He said although students may see themselves as a temporary fixture to the neighborhood, they are not, since students will always reside in the area.
“Once students get that, they very much want to be a positive contributor to that legacy. They don’t want to be the student that creates a problem,” Bachenheimer said.
Bachenheimer added the group rarely sees repeat violations once talked to by the Good Neighbor Initiative.
The program is hosting a Community Cookout at Hargrave Center in the Northside neighborhood on Wednesday, September 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. They will offer free food, music, games and entertainment.
Photo via Rani Dasi.
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