The organization kicked off their first of three ice cream social events on Wednesday night in the 300 block of the Bailey neighborhood. Two more ice cream social events will follow within the next week, on Sept. 8 in the Oakwood neighborhood and Sept. 10 in the Red Cedar neighborhood.

“This is a chance for the East Lansing residents to meet the nearby students and interns,” said Leslie Armell, a graduate student and CRC intern coordinator.

Armell added the ten new CRC interns have been going door-to-door to introduce themselves to their new neighbors.

One of those interns, interdisciplinary studies senior Jimmie Cotter, said his motivation to join the coalition came from his desire to help the two communities better understand and communicate with each other.

“I found this as a very good opportunity to get involved in the community I’ve been living in for the last four years,” Cotter said. "The opportunity to kind of be a liaison between the student residents and permanent residents sounded like a really cool opportunity to be a bridge builder.”

Cotter said connections between residents and students can be created with gestures as small as a simple conversation.

“It starts off just by communicating,” he said. "If you’re around a permanent resident, go over and say ‘hello.’ Offer if you can help in any way possible.”

Cotter added if students are respectful of residents, “the favor will be returned.”

"If you don’t branch out and try to meet people, then if you’re being too loud one night, maybe it won’t be received as well if you had built that relationship,” he said.

East Lansing resident Bridget Booth admitted that while she has had “issues” in the past with students partying late into the night, she understood what she was getting into when she chose to move less than a mile away from a large college campus.

“For a tiny stretch in the fall, and then a stretch in the spring, there can be rowdiness,” Booth said while sampling the ice cream provided from the MSU Dairy Store. “The students bring an energy to the area that I think most of us appreciate. We don’t have an affiliation with MSU at all, but we wanted to move here because we wanted to be a part of that."

The largest takeaway from the night may have been the turnout, as both Armell and Cotter expressed surprise at a crowd they estimated around 60 to 70 people.

“You tell college kids, ‘come to our ice cream social,’ and you never know how that’s going to go,” Cotter said. “But at the same time, free ice cream is tough to beat, and it seems like the students that came out are really social, fun people. I am a little surprised (by the turnout), to be honest with you, but at the same time I’m very pleased, and it’s set the tone for our events for the rest of the year.”