More than 30 noise complaints were called in to the Emory Police Department (EPD) during Danny Avila’s Sept. 27 performance on McDonough Field as part of Swoop’s Week, according to EPD.

The noise from the Spanish Electronic Dance Music (EDM) performer’s concert traveled as far as the Morningside Neighborhood, more than three miles from the Emory campus, according to a Sept. 30 Midtown Patch article.

“The noise from [the concert] was nearly unbearable and affected the entire neighborhood,” an anonymous Zimmer Drive resident wrote in a letter obtained by the Wheel, which circulated the neighborhood. “If we don’t protest, it’ll continue happening.”

The resident was one of many who alerted EPD that night, as more than 30 callers dialed 911 to complain about the noise from the concert, Emory police said.

The Student Programming Council (SPC), which organized Swoop’s Week, applied  for a sound permit to host the concert, according to Jill Camper, associate director of student leadership and programming in the Office of Student Leadership and Service.

Camper, who is also the advisor to SPC, outlined in an email to the Wheel the exact process taken to ensure compliance with city ordinances.

“Since Emory is located in DeKalb County, the Student Programming Council must follow DeKalb County city ordinances with each event they put on,” Camper said. “For the balls, SPC applies for a sound permit to host the event until midnight.”

Other restrictions include working with a production crew to minimize noise traveling outside of campus and keeping the sound less than 100 decibels on the stage.

The resident’s letter further outlines a number of offices and Emory administrators to contact in protest of the noise, including Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Ajay Nair and University President James W. Wagner.

“Both their inboxes need to be flooded with angry complaints for sanctioning such nonsense,” the resident wrote.

DeKalb County government was also a target for the neighborhood letter’s displeasure for authorizing “such a public nuisance.”

This is not the first time SPC has hosted a concert that sparked noise complaints.

According to Camper, after rebuilding the stage in 2008, SPC received a number of serious complaints during the course of a year, similar in nature to Friday night’s event.

“To help mitigate the concerns, we hired a sound engineer to help reposition speakers to ensure that more sound was absorbed by McDonough Field and campus buildings, such as the [Woodruff P.E. Center and Few and Evans Residence Halls],” Camper said.

Camper then offered an apology on behalf of SPC for the “inconveniences” Friday night’s concert caused for local residents, and noted that they are taking the noise complaints seriously.

“We can assure [the local residents] we are already looking into ways to help decrease noise for future events,” Camper said.

Some Emory students said that they were surprised with the noise complaints given the nature of the concert.

“Sure it’s loud, but it’s a concert,” College junior Lauren Krucke said. “I don’t think it was excessive.”

College freshman Kayley Scruggs attributes the potential cause of the complaints to the size of McDonough Field.

“It was just as noisy as any concert I’ve been to,” Scruggs commented. “It wasn’t even as loud as most EDM shows, but those have been in enclosed venues.”

– By Stephen Fowler

Stephen Fowler
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Stephen Fowler 16C is the political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, the statewide NPR affiliate in Georgia. He graduated from Emory with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and covered the central administration and Greek Life for the Wheel before serving as assistant news editor, Emory Life editor and the Executive Digital Editor from 2015-16.