With a steady stream of public safety alerts arriving in students' inboxes, some Jumbos are growing concerned about security — or the lack thereof — on and off campus. In the wake of last semester's series of laptop thefts in Tisch Library, admittance to campus buildings like Tisch, which are accessible without using a key or showing identification, has come under scrutiny.
One frequent security issue is piggybacking, in which students with working fobs let others into their dorm as they enter. Though Tufts' dorms require fobs to unlock their main entrances, they lack other security, and students entering are not required to provide any form of identification. And thus while students are sternly warned against piggybacking, it is something that is commonly practiced on campus.
Several students said that despite recent crime reports, they generally feel safe on campus and are happy with dorm security. Mike Borys, a freshman who lives in Metcalf Hall, said that he has no problems with current dorm safety.
"Everyone has the door key that only them and their roommates have, so I don't feel too uncomfortable with it," Borys said. "I don't see a need for a foolproof way to secure the dorms."
Freshman Melissa Karp agreed with Borys. "I haven't really had a problem with [security,]" Karp said. "I feel pretty safe in my dorm. I haven't really heard any problems in my dorm about break−ins or stealing stuff."
However Carrie Ann Ales, assistant director of judicial affairs at the Office of Residential Life and Learning, said that it is important for students to remember that piggybacking is prohibited.
"Allowing someone into the building, suite or room who does not belong there is prohibited (page 28, Habitats)," Ales said in an e−mail to the Daily. "This behavior is prohibited for the safety of those in the building/suite."
Karp concurred that it can be unsafe to let everyone into the dorms. "I guess it is kind of unsafe to let just anyone in," she said.
Adhering to university rules about piggybacking, however, can cause problems for students who are concerned about their appearance in the eyes of their peers. Students about to enter their dorms who notice a stranger waiting outside to be keyed in have few options. Instead of saying hello and allowing the person to pass through, the student could bar the doorway and close the door in the stranger's face or ask the person to step back while they open the door. Students have indicated that neither action is desirable.
"You can't slam the door on someone's face, regardless of your opinions on safety," sophomore Lisa Lebovici said. "No one is going to turn around and say, ‘I'm not going to hold the door open for you.'"
Ales said that even though doing so seems awkward, students need to put safety before social conventions.
"We understand that it can be awkward, but it is important that residents take an active role in their own building security," Ales said. "Students can ask the person behind them (if they don't look familiar) if they live in the building and if not they shouldn't hold the door for them. It is also important that if residents notice a suspicious person inside the residence hall they should not only notify the in−hall staff, they should contact TUPD immediately."
When students begin to use their best judgment about what is or is not suspicious, however, the lines between what is appropriate and inappropriate discretion begin to blur. While it can reasonably be assumed that a 50−year−old inebriated and unkempt man should not be automatically granted entrance into a Tufts dormitory, the lines are far more blurred when the person outside the door is a younger person — or a group of people — the student has never seen before.
Sophomore Nicholas LoCastro feels he has a good idea of who lives in his dorm. "I think generally, just from being around the buildings for so long, you get a sense of who lives in the building … If there's a sketchy−looking adult wearing a hooded sweatshirt late at night, I'd probably open the door a crack and slip in," LoCastro said.
At many urban schools, such as New York University, security guards are stationed at the entrances to dormitories.
At this point, both Karp and Borys said that they do not feel as if Tufts needs to post security guards in each dorm.
"I don't think piggybacking is a dangerous thing yet," Karp said. "I don't think there's anything to spur this."
Karp believes that having an open discusion about the potential danger of piggybacking could help to prevent crime in dorms.
"I think maybe just informing students, ‘Hey, pay attention,' so that this doesn't become a huge problem. But I don't know that we need a security guard in every dorm," Karp said.
