Security Must Make Students Feel Secure

To the Editor:

I was outraged, but unfortunately not shocked, at the treatment junior Yvonne Etaghene, junior Tarika Powell, and junior Catara Vinson received from Oberlin College Safety and Security (‘Students Respond to Security Encounter’, April 6). How dare security officers be so disrespectful and blatantly racist? This is the kind of behavior I have come to expect from police officers and security guards in Atlanta (my home), where racial –– racist –– profiling, police harassment and feelings of insecurity and lack of safety are the norm. Atlanta, being in the South, has a long complex history of racism. Oberlin has a history of liberalism, of activism and advocation of minority rights, especially when it comes to race. What is this type of incident doing on Oberlin’s campus? I’m not saying that these racist practices are “more” acceptable in Atlanta –– they are unacceptable anywhere. But this is just one more instance of Oberlin’s superficial liberal tradition.
My encounters with Safety and Security have been anything but safe and secure. I am a white female, and I am not claiming that my encounters with Security have been racist. But I have been rudely lectured, ignored, routinely put on hold in the middle of sentences and disrespected by Security. I am not alone in my experiences.
As an RC, I see the slightly more maintenance-oriented side of Security. Responding to lock-outs, filing complaints, filing emergency service requests during after-hours; are these really tasks for Security? God forbid that a Security officer rush to let a locked-out student into her room when they are needed for a true emergency on the other side of campus. But honestly, the response time for Security is aggravating. 
How many times do you have to call Security before they show up? How long does it take them to show up from the time they said they’d come? Do they listen carefully to your concern? Are they impartial and unbiased? Do you feel you need a third party advocate or mediator to speak to Security?
What role does Security play on this campus, and what role should they play?
The racist incident involving Security and three black students last month is just one more frustration with Security and Oberlin College for me to add to my list. When are some of these complaints going to start being responded to? Obviously, calling Security to lodge a complaint against Security is not the way to go.
Perhaps even more frustrating to me is the Review’s lack of provocative reporting. Why wasn’t there a feature article to go with Etaghene, Powell and Vinson’s letter? Are issues of racism among college faculty and staff too touchy to be looked into by Review reporters? If Oberlin is to live up to the liberal and proactive image it proudly pronounces, the publications on campus need to reflect this. Media is an incredibly powerful influence and form of activism. The Review should be more than a paper people flip through to read the Security Notebook.
In light of Oberlin’s liberal facade, I demand that the role of Security on this campus be re-evaluated. I demand that all employees of Security be given sensitivity training, diversity training, education on white privilege and be monitored in their handling of situations. I challenge greater lines of communication to be opened between Security and student organizations, through mediated dialogue if needed. The behavior of Security as it is now is unacceptable. Action on all levels, from student to administrative, needs to be taken.
If we can’t trust Security, who do we turn to?

–Hannah Logan
College sophomore