We all know of the incident that occurred last year on campus by the stairs next to Ignacio. For those of you who don’t remember or weren’t here, a girl was walking down the stairs and was approached by a non-BC male. Luckily, she lived in Ignacio and was able to swipe into the building before anything further occurred. This incident was the cause of the student-led action group “Swipe for Safety” to form and for serious conversation around this issue to commence. Rumor has it that next year, Boston College is changing its policy and allowing all on-campus residents to have access to all dorms. Yes, that’s right. There are many sides to this potentially hazardous move.
Lets say you’re a senior living in Rubenstein and are hosting a massive party in your room. Lucky for you, the Facebook invite you sent out has made its way to the News Feed of a ton of people, which may include freshmen. Because they get so bored on Upper and Newton, these freshmen decide to roam the halls of your building and crash your party. With the implementation of this new policy, they will be able to get into your building and have access to your room. As a senior, you do not want random freshmen at your party. Sorry, frosh, that’s just the way it goes. Or, on a more serious note, if two people are fighting and live in separate dorm “clusters,” there needs to be some sort of safe haven for the individuals to escape to when things take a turn for the worse.
On the other side of the argument are those who are proponents. For those students living off campus and walking through campus to get to a bus stop, sometimes those Blue Lights are not convincing enough. If someone were to approach you as you were walking down the stairs by Ignacio, who knows what could happen in the thirty seconds it takes for the police to show up. If you had access to nearby dorms, it would be a relief to find yourself in a safe building that you know a non-BC person cannot enter. On a lighter note, for those students who have class in the lounges of Gabelli, Vouté, or even the Gate, not being able to get into your class is a problem.
Here are some of my suggestions: 1. Give the students who have class in those residential buildings access during class hours. Waiting outside in the cold for someone is no fun and students can’t help it that they signed up for a class where they don’t live. 2. For those living off campus and studying in the library until the wee hours of the morning, there should be somewhere they can turn to in case of emergency. The same goes for those freshmen that live on Newton. As newly selected for the college experience, it seems daunting that they are unprotected as they walk around Main Campus late at night when they leave the library. Time limits should clearly be enforced, just as the current dorm “clusters” only allows students full access until midnight. If seniors live in Edmonds, why can’t they be allowed access to their senior friends in Gabelli?
Both sides of the argument are very convincing and I think the issues at hand should receive further attention. The safety of Boston College students is a top priority for the administration and this is one issue that should not be taken lightly. We already had one incident last year that luckily did not result in any physical harm, but being on an open campus, anything is possible.
