After years of tension between Northeastern and the surrounding neighborhoods, the feud is coming to a head, over a house of God no less.

The recent purchase of St. Ann by the university has ignited the wrath of our neighbors, who took to the streets in protest last week. The community wants to turn the former church into mixed-income housing, while Northeastern has floated a series of ideas, ranging from a community center in the near future, veiled possibility of a residence hall being built on the property after three to five years.

What the university’s higher-ups are missing in their quest for 1,250 new beds and a subsequent rise in students living in on-campus housing is the salt they are pouring into an already open wound. St. Ann, while a hit with students, was also a part of the non-tuition paying community.

In their vocal protest down Huntington Avenue last Wednesday, the neighbors expressed their dream of turning the defunct parish into mixed-income housing. Sounds like a noble cause, but the protesters were more outspoken about what they didn’t want to see the church become: another notch in the university’s belt that was rapidly become too tight for their neighborhood.

Should Northeastern be required to sell back the church? Absolutely not. In the city of Boston, money doesn’t just talk, it rambles incessantly. Northeastern paid for St. Ann and has every right to do as it pleases. But what the university might be neglecting is how damaging this move is for an already fragile relationship.

After all, Northeastern was content to cancel Springfest and turn Big Brother on the Huskies that don’t answer to ResLife, so why not take a more conscientious route and share the wealth with the neighborhood?

A community center might prove to be the most worthy short-term goal, the rare opportunity for students and neighbors to meet without a police presence. But realistically, how long will the university sit on its hands running a community center when they could just as easily be collecting monthly rent checks?

Short answer: somewhere between three and five years, when the brunt of the housing expansion is expected to go into effect.

It is ironic how for the past two years, the university has preached the same platitudes of “Love thy neighbor,” and yet with an ability to set a real example for the students and the city of Boston, they have exposed themselves as having deep wallets and shallow intent.

Obviously, the Archdiocese is in no position to honor a refund, but maybe Northeastern should show an act of goodwill, and find a compromise with the people of the community – or at least expand on its promise to keep St. Ann as a community center for longer than three to five years.

After all, it’s the only neighborly thing to do.