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Committee meeting encourages town, university discussion |
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
The Town and Gown Committee held its first meeting to discuss issues affecting both the Town of Boone and Appalachian State University Monday.
Coordinator for the Office of Off-Campus Community Relations at Appalachian, Kendal B. McDevitt,
was unanimously elected chair.
McDevitt’s position with the university, newly created last fall, already dealt with the conduct code and
university and town relations, making her an ideal candidate for the chairperson position.
 Chief of University Police Gunther Doerr (r) remarks during Monday’s Town and Gown meeting that 50 percent of alcohol-related arrests made on Appalachian State campus are not students. Photo by Holt Menzies
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“I’m very excited about it,” McDevitt said. “Right now what I hope to accomplish initially is to have the
group identify some of the salient issues that we think we want to work on… My responsibility is to
guide the process, not to come in with an agenda. I have to be there to allow the issues to emerge.”
The joint committee is composed of 13 representatives from the Town of Boone and Appalachian State
University, including members of university administration and faculty, a member of the Boone Police
Department, a permanent resident of Boone and a member of the Student Government Association.
Since it was the committee’s first meeting, the members spent the majority of the time bringing issues
of concern for the groups they represented to the table that they believe need to be discussed.
“An overreaching theme…[was] concern about the issue of growth and the impact that’s having on
transportation,” McDevitt said.
Related issues concerning affordable housing, sewer and the infrastructures of both the town and
university were also commonly discussed topics.
University attorney Dayton T. Cole mentioned the issue of water shortage still facing the region.
The plans for mechanisms to allow the town to share water with the university in times of emergency or
peak demand are still underway, but he said, “this is a great example of town-university cooperation.”
SGA President Forrest S. Gilliam said problems between the university and town in the past have
stemmed from both a lack of communication and outright miscommunication.
“It’s relatively similar to two individuals in a couple, where the easiest decision to make is right for you,
but you don’t realize the other person will be impacted in negative ways that you didn’t even think of,”
Gilliam said.
 The Town and Gown Committee held its first meeting to discuss issues affecting both the Town of Boone and Appalachian State University Monday. Photo by Holt Menzies
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Gilliam said the first meeting was a success and that open communication, the overall goal of the
committee, was established.
The Town of Boone’s concerns with the university’s rapid growth are not of anti-growth sentiment,
Gilliam said.
“They’re just wanting to know which direction we’re going to grow so we can help them for their
planning, “ he said.
McDevitt also discussed the issue of off-campus safety, a concern for both town and university. Her
office has handled some changes to the Code of Conduct this year.
For example, second-time student alcohol offenders or first-time assault, DWI or felony offenders, also
called as “high risk” offenders, are also now referred to the Office of Student Conduct.
For “repeat offenders, we’re getting them the help they need and protecting the community,” McDevitt
said.
McDevitt said the committee will meet every other month for a total of four meetings a year. The next
meeting is scheduled for May 19.
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