By Lilly Ward
Staff Writer
Students returning to their residence halls after 8 p.m. are used to a familiar ritual: They produce their IDs from bags or pockets, quickly flashing the small plastic cards at the desk attendants (DAs) as proof that they live in the building. This semester, however, the chairs behind the desks in the lobbies of the apartments, Hausdoerffer and Phelps Halls, remain empty at night.
Just as some residents may have concerns about the security of the buildings without DAs, other students remain unfazed by this new change implemented by Residential Education and Housing. The department decided to remove DAs in an attempt to reduce costs at a time when the College is facing budget shortfalls. This decision raises the question: should security in residential halls be compromised to cut down on costs?
As a Community Advisor (CA) in the apartments, I recognize the significance of the people who used to sit behind those desks. Although their role may have seemed small, the importance of ensuring that only residents can enter the building should not be dismissed. In Hausdoerffer, the doors open automatically after residents scan their IDs, allowing the building to be accessible to all residents. Unfortunately, this accessibility extends to anyone who happens to be in close proximity to the apartments.
The doors remain open for approximately 30 seconds. This is enough time for someone walking in the crosswalk across from the apartments to enter without the doors closing. I have often seen students who are not residents enter Hausdoerffer Hall by waiting for someone who is a resident to swipe in and follow them into the building. This is how an intruder gained access to Phelps Hall last semester.
One night while I was on duty, I was alerted by the DAs that a man was trespassing in Phelps. The DAs quickly realized that the man wasn’t a resident or a guest when he refused to present his ID and ran past the desk and into the communal lounge. The DAs immediately called me on my duty phone, and I called Campus Police. The officers arrested the college-aged man, as he had trespassed in other residence halls on campus that semester. I later spoke to two residents of Phelps who said that the man had spoken to them while they were in the lounge. They did not say what he had said to them, but they stated that they were frightened by the encounter.
One of the responsibilities of a CA on duty in the apartments is walking through each of the three floors, three times a night in both Phelps and Hausdoerffer to monitor what is happening at night. If the DAs hadn’t alerted me that someone was trespassing in Phelps Hall, I may have accidentally encountered this individual alone. When I walk through the apartments while on duty now, I cannot help but think of the vulnerable position I am in, not knowing if there is someone in the building who should not be there. I also think about my residents who may also find themselves in this situation.
As a solution to the precariousness of doors that automatically open, Res Ed has proposed fixing the doors in Hausdoerffer so that they don’t automatically open, while still giving individuals who need access to automated doors a card that activates them. They also are looking into having campus police walk through both buildings at least once during the night. However, it is four weeks into the semester and this change has yet to be implemented.
Living on a small campus often has the effect of feeling as if you are existing within an impenetrable bubble. The Campus Police Department is just a short distance away from the apartments, and throughout campus, there are emergency blue light boxes.
It only takes one incident to be reminded of the frailty of this safety bubble. For the most part, the public can come and go as they please on campus. Sometimes these individuals walk their dogs with their families on campus. Sometimes these individuals are men who peep into bedroom windows. Once such an incident was reported to campus police last October.
In 2022, a 26-year-old Ewing Township man was charged with criminal trespass-peering and harassment after allegedly following two Rider University female students into their residence hall. Without DAs, we must be concerned about similar incidents in the apartments.
Threats to resident’s safety also originate from within the College. Each year, the Office of Title IX & Sexual Misconduct Student Affairs conducts an annual end-of-year report. During the last academic year, the office received 103 reports from the campus community. Among the data were 27 cases of sexual assault (including rape and sexual contact), 29 cases of sexual harassment and 13 cases related to stalking.
Having desk assistants check the IDs of each person who enters the buildings may not always prevent an incident from occurring. However, by monitoring who is in the building, the DAs can track down guests who may have been involved in or witnessed an incident. While on duty, I always felt secure knowing that I could ask a DA for a record of who was in the building if I needed to access this information.
The removal of the DAs in the apartments appears at first to be a small change as the College attempts to find its footing financially; however, this decision may foreshadow more significant changes.
Will the DAs be cut in other residential halls by fall 2024? Will other student-staff positions within Residential Education be eliminated? The decision to remove DAs calls into question the value that the College places on the safety and well-being of students.
When I learned that Residential Education intended to remove DAs from the apartments, I sent an email to staff members within the department listing my concerns based on my experiences as a CA. I hope that residents will reflect on what this small change represents and how it may impact their experience at the College.
