On Wednesday, October 15 the Student Senate hosted a Campus Security Forum open to all members of the Bryant community. Present was John Denio, Director of Resident Life, Dr. John Saddlemire, Vice President for Student Affairs, and Stephen Bannon, Director of DPS. The forum served to give students an opportunity to discuss safety and future precautions being taken on campus.
Both the students and faculty of Bryant care deeply about the safety of our campus. Possibilities regarding future safety precautions were presented by Denio, Saddlemire, and Bannon. One option being considered is an increased use of the key card access system on the exterior doors of residence halls. Dr. Saddlemire himself had lived in Hall 12 last fall, and was concerned by the fact that anyone could simply walk into the building. To clarify, the current system allows all exterior doors to remain unlocked between 6 am and 11 pm. At 11 pm the doors automatically lock and require a student ID from a student living in that hall for access.
A possibility mentioned for the future was locking exterior doors of halls at all times. Anyone with a Bryant ID would be allowed to enter between 6 am and 11 pm, while only residents of that hall will be able to unlock the door after 11 pm. This suggestion was widely supported by the 40-50 students in attendance. A majority of students seemed to believe that stricter precautions should be taken in order to keep our campus safe. It was mentioned by many that other colleges in the area, such as University of Rhode Island and Salve Regina University, lock their residence halls at all times.
This possibility would be relatively easy to implement if departments such as DPS and Student Affairs choose to do so. The key card system already in place currently has the capacity to support the change, so it would be easy and free. Another suggestion proposed was the use of a camera system outside of residence halls. This is a project DPS has been looking into since the summer. Currently, there are cameras in parking lots and at Ronzio’s, among other places. However, there are no cameras pointing at the exterior doors of residence halls.
The issue concerning the use of cameras is safety vs. privacy. However, when this question was proposed to the students at the forum, nearly everyone in attendance indicated that they would accept this small privacy infringement in order to have a safer campus. It was brought up that cameras outside of the halls would be welcomed by students, while cameras inside of the halls would not.
Many other students made suggestions to improve existing programs and implement new ones in the future. The forum was mutually beneficial to officials and students, as students were able to gain a clear idea of what is being done for our safety, and officials were able to receive student feedback. The Her Campus members in attendance felt reassured after the forum, and grateful for a change to contribute. We would like to thank the Student Senate for hosting this forum. We are also thankful to John Denio, Dr. John Saddlemire, and Stephen Bannon for speaking on behalf of their departments and seeking our input. We hope to continue the conversation between officials and students in order to make our campus as safe as it can be.