BRIAN HOOSE
WESTFIELD – According to the Westfield State University website, Westfield State is dedicated to being an informative, accessible and vibrant community partner and good neighbor, and invites the community to “join us in making the neighborhood and city a beacon of educational and cultural opportunities.”
But after a March 24 meeting at Landsdowne Place, the Thomas Street apartment complex that houses 200 Westfield State students, and the subsequent media coverage of that meeting, campus initiatives and student volunteerism are taking a back seat to accusations of public drunkenness and rowdy parties, as spring weekend looms.
“There was a lot of good, constructive feedback,” said Victoria Landry, a junior communication major from Milford said of the recent Neighborhood Advisory Board meetings. “With the event being the first of its kind, it was something that we’ll definitely take for next year and keep working with it.”
Several members of the board, which is made up of both students and city residents, double as city councilors whose wards are populated with university students. They spoke highly of the event, but believed there were certain areas that can improved upon for future meetings.
“I wish there more local residents, and local businesses didn’t have a rep,” said Ward 3 Councilor Brian Hoose. “You can’t resolve a problem if you don’t know what it is.”
RALPH FIGY
Hoose’s ward extends south from the Westfield River to West Silver Street, as well as west along Route 20 to the Russell border, and is also home to several enclaves of off-campus students, much like Ward 2, the downtown domain of Councilor Ralph Figy.
Perhaps no ward in the city deals with the university quite like Councilor Mary O’Connell’s Ward 4, which is made up largely of residential offshoot neighborhoods of Western Avenue across the street from campus
“It’s not the university’s fault and it’s not anyone who lives there’s fault that (Landsdowne) was an active, vibrant building with residents all across the spectrum, and they all were evicted,” said O’Connell. “Nobody even talks about it, but there are some simmering feelings there, too. It was a prerogative of the owner to do that (evict residents) but it left some wounds in the community.”
“A lot of the promises made by President (Evan) Dobelle to Mayor (Michael) Belanger have never been fulfilled,” Figy said. “That underlying sentiment in the community is ‘we got sold a bill of goods, now we got the kids… and nothing. That’s all we got out of it — a bunch of kids downtown.’ So that’s part of it.”
Landry suggested possibly encouraging off-campus commuter students to develop more of a community service presence in the city, and also credited Westfield Police Sgt. Eric Hall for his work with the university’s off-campus student populace.
MARY L. O’CONNELL
“He was really good and answered a lot of questions,” Landry said.
Hoose believe many of the issues regarding off-campus students can be solved by more visible and cordial community policing.
“For a long time, community policing was quite the way of going and received a lot of support,” said Hoose, after referring to Hall as a ‘terrific guy’ and community policing as ‘underfunded’. “But over the years, (support) has diminished. But they’re the ones that are preventing a problem from happening, by saying ‘let’s talk about what is going on, we’ve heard some things here and there, and how can we resolve this?’
Ken Magarian, director of advancement & university relations at Westfield State, added that Maureen Belliveau, director of the Westfield Business Improvement District, was on hand for the event, which prompted committee members to suggest that building a stronger report with the BID would help with creating a more cohesive downtown for students, residents and businesses in the future.
“It’s (off-campus relations) multidimensional, and it’ll require multidimensional resolutions,” Hoose said. “But I think it was a good start. You’ve got to start someplace.”
“I thought it went very well,” added Figy. “Everyone learned a lot, and that’s what you hope for.”
