Photo Courtesy of Long Ta.
We have come to the conclusion of an in-person on campus semester like no other. Some students loved the time back on campus despite the limitations and changes, while others got out as soon as they could. No matter the overall opinion of the student body, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a single person whose semester went exactly the way they thought it would. This is especially evident with members of REAL (Residential Education and Living) staff. These jobs have never been easy, but this semester students had to take charge in a landscape where the amount of rules, and ways to break them, had increased exponentially. On this subject, I talked to several REAL staff members who all wished to remain anonymous. They spoke to me on how their roles and responsibilities have grown exponentially and how recent interactions with Campus Safety have been frustrating, to say the least.
“So I’ve been on REAL staff for two years now, and I’ve gone through two sets of training. Last year, in the summer, the training was totally different than what it was this year. Especially with the Campus Safety section. I think we used to have a very clear idea of what our role was versus Campus Safety’s role in terms of dealing with problems, but this year that line has become very blurred,” says one student. This seems to be a common sentiment: the role of REAL staff has fundamentally changed, and their relationship with Campus Safety has grown increasingly complicated.”I think part of the reason is that [Campus Safety] is really understaffed. They don’t have enough people working for them right now. They’re trying to hire new people while simultaneously dealing with tough situations on campus”, the person continued.
The student went on to discuss the shifting culture reflected on campus: “On top of COVID, I think a lot of the little changes on campus have happened because of the Black Lives Matter protests this summer and the distrust of police. There was a Campus Safety officer who reported to one of the fire drills wearing a gaiter with a Blue Lives Matter pin on it. Not only are you not allowed to wear gaiters on-campus, but he just made so many students uncomfortable by wearing something with that message. For reasons like that, I think we’ve been given more authority because there’s not as much of a power dynamic between us and other students.”
“We’re not supposed to call them ‘campo’ anymore because that’s short for campus police. They’re trying to move into being called Campus Safety officers to make them sound less intimidating.” While this rule seems timely, sources indicate that it has been in practice since the 2018-19 academic year.
Despite the name change, many feel that more concrete steps need to be taken. “At the end of the day, these Campus Safety officers, these essentially police officers, despite us not being able to call them that, but they wear the uniforms right? That can be really triggering for students who have had negative experiences with the police, especially BIPOC students […] Its well-intentioned that REAL pro-staff has lessened the pervasiveness of Campus Safety in our jobs because I think that can be really detrimental, but it does blur the line and make things more complicated on how we’re supposed to address things.”
“I’ve heard about a variety of frustrating situations from my colleagues. I’ve heard about Campus Safety showing up to calls made when people weren’t social distancing and the officer simply saying ‘We’re not the mask police’ and just leaving.”
When asked about solutions, these students threw out several ideas. “Campus Safety has no idea who I am. I have to call them pretty much every time I have been on call this year. They don’t know my name, and I don’t know their names. I think just figuring out a way for Campus Safety to get to know us a bit, even if it’s just getting lunch together where we all wear name tags. I think if they knew who everyone was they would take our calls more seriously. Right now they just rank them in order of importance and sometimes your call just gets shoved down. I think this is especially because of the lack of officers. I think the main thing is just building some kind of relationship.” The student added, “I don’t know if they have any cultural awareness training but I think that would be good.”
Another REAL staff member echoed this feeling. “I think that if we’re told that Campus Safety shouldn’t be called Campus Police anymore and if we’re told that they’re getting more training including anti-bias training, then I think these officers should display that […] Campus Safety should be more diverse. I have only ever had white men show up when I’ve called and I don’t think that’s okay. Also, I think that the documents that Campus Safety is given on how to address situations should be published in a way where students can look at them. I think just more transparency in general. I think we need to re-address what Campus Safety does in every situation because there have been far too many times in my career where I or a friend have called them and they just don’t do much, and what’s the point of freaking out all these residents with having someone in an officer’s uniform walking around which I think would make anyone anxious.”
The consensus is that enforcing social distancing has become the main aspect of the job. “Last year I called Campus Safety once and it was for an actual emergency where I called 9-11 beforehand. Now it’s once a week. Every other REAL staff member in my building has done the same thing”, one student said. “After the experiences I’ve had with Campus Safety this semester, I feel like I’d rather address a party or another issue by myself because they can sometimes take half an hour to get there. When I break up a party, my priority is to make sure that everyone’s safe. I’ve struggled with the perception that I’m just here to break up the fun but that’s not what this is about.”
I reached out to several Campus Safety officers to be interviewed but none of them took me up on the offer. Hopefully next semester, one way or another, a better understanding can be formed on campus.
