“Right now I’d say that relations, town/gown relations, are better than they’ve been in the past,” said Professor of Sociology Rob Rosenthal. “But we can always do more.”

What more the University community can and should do was the topic of debate at a town-gown forum organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). At the forum, students and a panel of faculty members and representatives from the Center for Community Partnerships discussed the successes and challenges of University-Middletown relations from both a current and historical perspective.

“I think that the point of a forum like that was to open up conversation about whether or not our campus is ‘open’ to folks who aren’t part of the greater Wesleyan community and to get a sense about how different folks on campus feel about that,” said Ruby-Beth Buitekant ’09.

At the forum, students shared a number of criticisms of University policy, including concern over the perceived closed nature of the campus and the allocation of educational and recreational resources. Many felt that the University’s expulsion of unregistered guests has sent a hostile message to Middletown residents that is contrary to University aims.

“By kicking people off you’re implying that they are not welcome,” said Zak Kirwood ’12, an SDS member.

The policy of Public Safety (Psafe) officers concerning residents was also a topic of great concern. Students at the forum shared incidents in which they believe residents were unfairly removed from campus. Students expressed doubt over the criteria for expelling residents, citing examples in which it appeared that individuals were asked to leave arbitrarily and based on race and age.

Director of Public Safety Dave Meyer, who did not attend the forum, stressed that this issue is neither easy to solve nor clear-cut.

“There are all kinds of people on campus and we don’t just walk up to people on a regular basis and ask them for their ID,” Meyer said. “We do try to be very cautious when we approach someone and have a good reason for it. If we hear reports about suspicious people, we respond to them. Our response is based on the activity of the individual.”

Meyer explained that many non-University students come to campus for a variety of reasons and that there is no policy refusing total access to residents.

“If you look at Foss Hill on a Sunday afternoon when the hill is used for sledding, there’s probably more non-students than students,” Meyers said.

Director of Community Relations Frank Kuan agreed that safety was definitely an issue for the University, students and parents.

“Its really for your own safety,” Kuan said. “There are certain responsibilities that the University has in safe guarding buildings.”

Students, however, viewed this response with skepticism.

“We couch it in terms of safety,” said Adam Jacobs ’10. “It’s not like all of Middletown will flood in. We assume that people are just going to come in and steal everything. It’s not like I’ve never had things stolen from my floor.”

“I think there is a disconnect between how students on campus view the openness of campus and how people who are being asked to leave campus by PSafe view the openness of campus,” Buitekant said. “I think it’s a problem that the situation of people being asked to leave is up to individual decisions that impact the rest of campus.”

The forum also touched upon ways that students could become more invested in Middletown, such as expanding housing to Middletown, making library resources more financially and easily accessible, or providing a point system on WesCards that incorporates Middletown stores. Currently, people unaffiliated with the University can, for a fee, apply for guest passes for Olin resources.

Many of the issues and sentiments discussed benefited from the context provided by the panelists.

Rosenthal described the history of Middletown and University relations throughout his 20 years on campus.

“It’s never been a ‘university’ town,” Rosenthal said. “There’s always been somewhat of a divide. You can’t wish away social structure.”

According to Rosenthal, there is a common tendency among universities to ignore the specific needs of surrounding areas. He described the economic improvement of Middletown over the past two decades and lauded the University’s receptive behavior. He specifically noted the progressive work of former President Douglass Bennet who refrained from meddling in Middletown matters and implementing policies that could have promoted gentrification.

Kuan shared a similar sentiment. He explained that lack of connection and misinformation from both sides has been a common source of disharmony.

“There has definitely been improvement in communication–if there are issues we can come to some sort of agreement,” Kuan said “We have to keep the focus on what can benefit the community and University and focus on our educational mission. I think any town relationship can still be improved.”

Kuan cited examples of the campus opening up to residents—such as for school art shows and music festivals—and lamented that resources were too limited to be shared more uniformly among students and residents.

“I think it is a good conversation,” Kuan said. “Students have great energy and we should work to capture that. In challenging economic times we have to work together on short-term, doable as well as mutually beneficial projects but should keep in mind that payouts [for student-driven projects] may not be immediate and could be longer-term.”

The panelists also noted other partnerships between the University and Middletown, such as the Center for Community Partnership, which finds opportunities for collaboration between University students and Middletown groups, and Service Learning classes, which incorporate Middletown-based projects into the curriculum. Additionally, the PILOTS program provides state reimbursement to Municipalities, such as Middletown, for unallocated taxes from tax-exempt properties and private institutions like Wesleyan.

Yet some students questioned whether this was the most effective approach and addressed the root of the issues.

“Is our having a lot of resources and using them to volunteer the only way in which we think of our relationship to Middletown?” Buitekant said. “I don’t think it should just be about volunteering.”

Another consistent issue of discourse regarded the University allotment of resources.

Jacobs questioned the University’s decisions and whether resources could have been better spent for the benefit of both the University and Middletown.

“Wes just spent well over a million dollars to build a campus center that students don’t even enjoy…” Jacobs said. “I’m just saying…”

Professor of History William Pinch, the third panelists, offered a different view of University town-gown relations.

“Too often a lot of what we hear is what Wesleyan has done for Middletown,” Pinch said. “It ends up creating an impression that Middletown can’t do anything for itself, that its just there and hopeless, a black hole that simply sucks resources from it [the University].”

Pinch, a resident of Middletown, described the benefits of living in such a diverse and historic area.

“From my perspective Wesleyan should be recruiting people to come here because it is in Middletown,” he said.

Rosenthal too emphasized that interactions among students and residents are crucial for improving relations and suggested that they have already led to great improvements.

“About every four years people get upset,” Rosenthal said. “Someone should take it on themselves to do research–where there are patterns, where there are exclusions.”

SDS members plan to hold another town-gown forum this semester that will incorporate more Middletown residents in the dialogue, as well as press for changes and clarifications to PSafe policies.