By Derek Hawkins

In response to growing concerns of noise violations and student arrests in Mission Hill during the month of September, students, residents and community leaders have begun to seek common ground.

“We are actively working to communicate with as many groups as possible in Mission Hill,” Student Government Association (SGA) President Joey Fiore said. “We welcome input and communication with any groups who would like to work to come to some type of solution to this issue.”

The SGA has yet to announce any specific plans to address the Mission Hill community, and non-student residents there have been similarly vague about their approach. But recent remarks by some students and longtime community members indicate that both are looking for more open discussion.

“This problem isn’t going to go away overnight, and the finger pointing and the fighting isn’t going to do anything” said Rich Johnson, president of the Community Alliance of Mission Hill.

For Johnson, a Northeastern alumnus who has lived in the neighborhood for four years, the first step is to reconsider the language of that discussion.

“I want to stop using the word ‘student’ when talking about the loud parties and other problems on Mission Hill,” he said. “They are younger community members. ‘Students’ seems like some kind of protected class. They don’t have special rights.”

Tension between the long-term residents and the growing student population is not a new issue. But the high volume of noise violations and other crime in September has already made this year an exception, civic leaders and residents have said.

Police and civic groups reported at least 37 student arrests and 76 noise violations in Mission Hill during the month of September.

During the weekend of Sept. 15, police arrested 10 Northeastern students in Mission Hill. Jeff Doggett, director of government relations and community affairs, appeared with Boston police at several parties where students were arrested.

To address mounting criticism of what some students perceived as his role in the arrests, Doggett fielded questions from students for more than three hours in an SGA meeting Monday.

Among the issues he emphasized was a need for better communication between off campus students and community residents.

“It takes an olive branch from the students,” he said, speaking before more than 100 students. “There’s a rich history that most of the people in Mission Hill have lived and they don’t believe that the student body has quite appreciated what that is.”

Michael Rockland, SGA assistant vice president for financial affairs, has lived on Eldora Street in Mission Hill since January. In light of September’s arrests, he said he plans to become more active in the community.

“Students who live in Mission Hill should respect that there are residents who have lived there longer than they have,” he said. “But they should also let it be known that they are residents, too, and that they wish to coexist with the people who have lived there in the past.”

Dave Welch, a Northeastern alumnus and 24-year resident of Mission Hill, encouraged students to attend neighborhood meetings, which take place on the last Thursday of every month at the Mission Church, 1545 Tremont St. Welch chairs the meetings, which begin at 7 p.m.

“I have no problem with students showing up,” he said. “They can talk, ask questions, they can make statements – all voices are welcome here. And I think they may get a different point of view if they listen to the other side.”

– News staff writer Marc Larocque contributed to this report.