County resident aims for local attitude adjustment

By KAYLEE HARTUNG as told by FRANK MASSEY

A booming bass wakes up your infant at 2 a.m. One hour later you're awakened by loud banging on your front door, only to find a confused drunken college student. Then beer cans and plastic cups litter the roadside as you drive to church early on a Sunday morning.

The relationship between Rockbridge County residents and Washington and Lee students jumped into the spotlight this year. 

Students' partying is affecting the lives of many county residents: the noise, the trash and the traffic problems.

Meanwhile, many students see their partying as simply a rite of passage.

What's being done to address this strain on town-gown relations?

In response to the situation the University, several students, and many concerned community members joined forces. The Campus Community Coalition works collaboratively to "identify issues and solutions to improve relations" between the involved parties, according to its chairman Jane Horton.

Many say progress has been made, but what needs to happen for neighbors to see long-term improvement?

Fred Massey is a member of the Campus-Community Coalition and a resident of the Maury Cliffs neighborhood (across the street from the Polehouses, a popular off-campus housing development). Massey is taking on the role of a journalist to get to the root of the problem and find real solutions.

Through conversations with students, his own neighbors, law enforcement officials and W&L administrators, Massey sees an attitude adjustment as the solution to everyone's problems.

Massey thinks students need to behave better, and understand what it means to be a good neighbor. Meanwhile, neighbors need to work to understand where the students are coming from and have realistic expectations of their behavior.

Check out our Web site next week to hear directly from Massey's neighbors and listen to Massey sit down with a couple of W&L students.

Problem areas

Key players working for change

Editor's note: Kaylee Hartung is a member of the Campus-Community Coalition