Weinberg freshman Erin Royals knows what it’s like to feel unsafe on Northwestern’s campus.
“I was followed once from the ATM,” Royals said. “I was able to enter through a side door [into Shepard Residential College] because it was before 8 [p.m.], so I got into the building safely.”
If Royals faces a similar threat two months from now, she might not be so lucky: Effective at the beginning of Spring Quarter, the side exits of all residential halls will be locked and alarmed 24 hours a day.
“To get to the front door [of Shepard], we have to go through a sketchy tunnel, which can be scary at night,” Royals said.
Like Royals, many students are unhappy with the planned security changes. Along with the 24-hour alarms, sensors will be installed so that alarms will automatically turn off, student security monitors will be replaced with real security guards and closed circuit cameras will be installed in the entrances of major dorms.
After several dorm intrusions last year, the university hired Aegis Protection Group, a private consulting firm, to assess campus security. The group’s report, along with advice from University Police and security studies at other college campuses, influenced university officials to go ahead with the new policies.
But the exact contents of the report have been kept secret.
“It’s a management report, commissioned specifically for management,” said Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis, who has declined student requests that the report be publicized. He noted that some administration groups, such as a university-wide building security committee and a crime prevention and safety committee, operate with student representatives but the committee handling the report does not.
In an ASG poll on HereAndNow in the fall, more than 90 percent of student respondents voted against the new security measures. That number made students surprised to find the policies would be implemented anyway.
“I just don’t understand why they asked us what we thought and then didn’t pay attention,” Royals said.
Other students doubt whether the measures will be effective.
“I don’t understand how [the new measures] are going to keep anything more secure,” said Meghan Beadle, a Weinberg freshman who lives in the International Studies Residential College. “The security guards don’t even know who lives in the building, so regardless of which doors are locked or who is on guard, anyone can just say they live in that building.”
Some students say they’ve found themselves in the dark regarding the new policies. They want to see the report, learn why these specific measures were chosen, and understand why students weren’t involved earlier and how they can be involved now.
Students speak out
A Feb. 6 meeting hosted by the Associated Student Government (ASG), the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and the Residential College Board (RCB) provided a forum for student discussion about the new policies.
ASG President and Communications senior Jay Schumacher opened the meeting by saying that he didn’t want it to be a forum for whining about the changes.
“We’re Northwestern students, we’re smart, we can come up with a better solution to all of this instead of just complaining,” Schumacher said.
Students at the meeting suggested alternatives to the new security measures that would increase students’ safety. Ideas included adding cameras to all doors to replace the 24-hour alarms and boosting the security monitors’ familiarity with the students in their hall by giving them lists with pictures of all of the residents.
“It’s kind of our job as students to keep the places where we live safe and secure,” said Weinberg junior Sarah Whitney. She also said she was irritated that student groups like the Safety Education Committee were excluded from the process.
Banis responds
In response to student criticism, Banis reiterated that the goal of the new measures is to “dissuade any potential intruder from getting into our residential halls,” through a process of what the University Police refer to as “hardening the target.”
“When the intrusions happened last year, the students turned to the University and said ‘do something about it,’” Banis said.
There was no evidence of forced entry in these intrusions, according to Banis, and one intruder disclosed that he had entered by tailgating, or following a student into the building.
The possibility for street crime is increasing in Evanston due to a police crackdown in Chicago, Banis said. Because Chicago police are making it tougher for burglars and street criminals to operate, the criminals are making their way into the suburbs, he said. He pointed to the fact that all three of the attackers in a recent assault on two Northwestern students were from Chicago as evidence.
“Part of this is also preventative action on our part,” Banis said. “Generally speaking, as density increases in a town or city, crime tends to go up.” He said that development and population are both on the rise in Evanston, which “draws out the criminal element.”
As far as student involvement, Banis explained that the security measures were originally going to take effect at the start of fall quarter 2006, but he wanted to consider student feedback from a survey and postponed their implementation until this spring.
Banis also said he made copies of the survey for the staff and University Police and asked them to develop strategies for working with students and considering their feedback. But in the end, they concluded that there was no effective or efficient way to do so.
Many students, like Royals, argue that certain dorms benefit more from available side doors and some halls require the safety enhancements more than others. Banis responded that it’s better to go ahead with the plan’s implementation and start increasing security, and then develop a way to let individual residential halls be exempted.
Here’s where students can get involved. Representatives from RCB and RHA will be working with Lt. Dan McAleer of University Police and other residential life representatives in an exemptions subgroup. The group will discuss possible exceptions to the new rules.
Banis also noted that student awareness must be increased in order to help prevent future break-ins.
Many students at the meeting expressed their concern that the alarms will not discourage people from exiting through side doors.
“I’ll probably still go out the side doors even with the new alarms,” said Melanie Moore, a Weinberg sophomore who lives in Foster-Walker Complex. “I think that [considering] the way Foster-Walker is built, the new security measures are kind of stupid. It’s a lot easier to go out of the side doors.”
Banis said that he didn’t see this being an issue and that the alarms should draw attention to the possibility of an intruder and allow further action to be taken.
“I think our students are trusting and if they see people trying to get into residence halls, they assume they belong there and will let them in,” Banis said, adding that students need to be formally educated about taking safety precautions. Forty percent of students living on campus leave their dorm room doors unlocked, according to Banis.
Many students and administrators agree that safety education is needed. Although some students at the meeting said that no amount of education will create true awareness in students, others said that educating residents would lead to a safer environment.
“We all need to collaborate to enhance security,” Banis said. “Everyone needs to be a part of this effort.”
Some students said they understand the reasoning behind security changes, but are still unhappy with the way they are being implemented.
“Given the security issues, especially last year with [larger dorms], I could see why the Northwestern administration would make improving security a top priority,” said Nina Kim, a Medill junior and community assistant at Allison Hall. “But realistically, I think that students will be very upset at the inconvenience of it.
“I think it would make more sense to have it instituted at the beginning of the year and not have to tell someone one thing and then take it back,” Kim said.