I went to a party Saturday night. The alcohol flowed, the dance floor was crowded, and all who attended had a good time. There was a contingency of European international students at the party, one of whom was from Austria. I asked my new friend to dance, but she turned me down.

“I don’t dance with someone as drunk as you are,” she said.

“But how do you know how drunk I am? I’ve only been here for a little while,” I replied.

“I know, but I heard you speaking too loudly just a moment ago, and so it seems to me you’re too drunk to dance with,” she explained.

“But I’m a really good dancer,” I said, “and people really enjoy when I dance at parties.”

“I’m sorry, but you’re just too drunk.”*

It didn’t seem fair. There was no way for her to know how much I’d had to drink that night, nor was there any real measure to explain what constituted speaking “too loudly.” Still, being the gentleman I am after a few drinks, I respectfully took my leave.

Defeated, I went outside and sat on the stoop to reflect. Turns out, I could draw parallels between what had just happened to me and what happened to Brothers Street Eats last week.

The food truck, started by graduates of this fine institution, was removed from campus last week because someone complained about the noise from the generator. Being a fan of food trucks and the entrepreneurial spirit, I decided to investigate.

Brothers Street Eats uses a Powerhorse 9000 generator. The noise from this generator peaks at 75 decibels. In the city of Tuscaloosa, the noise limit is 80 decibels. I do not expect this is a coincidence, as Brothers operated around the city before finding a spot on the Quad.

I looked for a similar noise-level restriction for the campus, as I figured it was possibly different since the University owns the land. As far as I could tell, one didn’t exist.

Now, I understand noise is an issue when dealing with an educational environment. I understand professors shouldn’t have to talk over ambient noise. I understand students shouldn’t have to strain to hear lectures.

What I don’t understand is why the University cannot work with Brothers Street Eats to find a solution where they can stay on campus. These are University of Alabama graduates starting their own business. Campus denizens have warmly received them, and their presence adds charm to an otherwise sterile environment. They even worked out a deal with Bama Dining to use Dining Dollars and Bama Cash.

If noise is as big an issue as whoever complained made it out to be, let Brothers use the electricity on the Quad or work out a situation where the University helps Brothers purchase a quieter generator.

I don’t know the feasibility of those suggestions, frankly, but my point is the University can and should work with Brothers instead of simply removing them from campus altogether for a problem with no specific violation parameters. What constitutes too loud? What I can put up with isn’t ever going to be the same as the person next to me.

And I can’t stress enough how much worse this is all made by the fact that the owners are University graduates. One can’t help but wonder if this would be the solution if recent Honors College graduates or a so-called VIP student ran Brothers Street Eats.

What’s the message being sent? We want you to graduate, follow your dreams and start your own business, just not here?

And by the way, I can’t very well complain about the absurdly large truck with the exhaust stacks flying around the parking lot outside ten Hoor that literally drowns out the professor’s voice, so I think the nice folks in Graves Hall can just deal with a little background noise.

*I invented this conversation to make a point. She did turn me down, though. Y’all, I was really sad.

John Davis is the chief copy editor of The Crimson White. His column runs weekly on Monday.