Over the first weekend back at school, police broke up several parties in the neighorhoods around East Campus. Residents complained of rowdy students but said police were responsive to their calls.
It wasn’t exactly all quiet on the Eastern front on the first weekend Duke students were back at school. Frustrated residents in neighborhoods near East Campus said they saw more students than ever before stream past their sidewalks to the houses unrestricted by Duke’s on-campus regulations. And as undergraduates stumbled by front porches, they made as much noise as the thumping basses of the stereo systems at the parties down the street.
Friday night, police broke up at least five parties in the area off East Campus, and Saturday they raided several more. Neighbors noted that the police responded promptly to complaints this year, and several students said authorities were cordial as they shut down the gatherings that drew hundreds of people.
“They were pretty cool about it,” senior Matt Nusnbaum said of the police who ended his house party on 913 Dacian Ave. early. “As soon as people scattered, they were joking about it.”
Joint teams of Duke University and Durham Police Department officers patrolled the area all weekend, and between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.—prime party time—squad cars cruised by the houses every two minutes.
Residents and police are still searching for ways to control the parties off East Campus, which have been mobbed in the past two years as the University has tightened enforcement of its alcohol policy.
“In years past, I’ve seen kids migrate to Ninth Street,” said DUPD Lt. Jeff Best, who was on patrol off East Saturday night. “Recently these houses have become a magnet for kids.”
Many residents noted that despite the large crowds, students throwing parties seemed more aware of the neighbors than in years past. Several neighbors said students had contacted them before throwing parties and many students promptly cleaned up after their late-night gatherings.
Last year Duke students and neighbors clashed over the raucous and expansive parties. Neighbors complained about noise, trash strewn through the streets and delinquent behavior from drunken students.
This year, their complaints were similar, but their frustration focused on the general disrespect that students showed the residents. Several neighbors called the police Friday night when music and chatter from the parties kept them awake. But the intense noise started as students loudly stumbled back to East.
Jen Minnelli, who lives on Buchanan Street, said she came out of her home to remind students to be quiet because her two-year-old daughter was sleeping. She said the students sneered back at her and then one student told the mom, who is eight months pregnant, “Shut your mouth, b---h.”
Residents say such behavior is typical. Dan Morgan, who lives on Watts Street, said when he meets students during the day “they’re the nicest guys in the world.” When they start drinking, however, he said they become belligerent.
Neighbors’ growing frustration is beginning to focus on the landlords who rent to Duke students.
“There are two bottom lines,” said Joan Austin, a Watts Street resident. “Duke won’t let anyone drink on campus, and these houses are rented to seniors in fraternities. That’s a deadly combination.”
Police, who were out in full force all weekend, were quick to break up events once neighbors called authorities. They made several arrests for underage drinking and for possession of a fake identification. Maj. Phyllis Cooper, a spokesperson for DUPD, said official numbers would not be available until Monday at the earliest.
Some students, however, found ways to curb disruption to the neighbors. Saturday night a party thrown by members of Sigma Nu fraternity at 706 Buchanan St., known to students as “Halfway House,” went well into the night. Junior Jay McKenna, president of Sigma Nu, said the hosts had hired bouncers from a nearby restaurant and made efforts to control the soirée.
All evening several men stood outside the house periodically yelling at loitering students, “Get inside or get out!”
“I don’t think things are that different from last year,” McKenna said. “The police are still going to be out there and we’re still going to be doing what we want to do.”
He noted that no neighbors complained Saturday night, but Sunday morning the Trinity Park neighborhood e-mail list was abuzz with complaints about the trashed yards and the “morning after party stench” on the 700-block of Buchanan.
Ellen Dagenhart, a realtor and Trinity Park resident, noted that the parties made it difficult for her to do her job. “It’s a pain in the butt to go try to sell houses and represent Trinity Park as a place to raise a family when there is garbage and throw-up in the front yards,” she said.
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