Alyssa Wilson ~ Assistant Editor
If you have been walking around campus and seeing QR codes posted everywhere with the words “Scan Me” written below, you know that there is a student-created survey about Campus Safety and Security at the University of Lynchburg.
I first heard about the survey when a friend of mine asked me if I had seen it. Since then, I have seen many QR codes taking others to the survey posted around campus. This survey was created anonymously for students to submit anonymously.
Some examples of the questions on the survey include: “How highly would you recommend a friend from high school to come visit you for the weekend?” with answer options ranging from highly encouraged to strongly discouraged. Another example is “ Has the threat of campus security ever dictated your decision to go outside of your comfort zone and meet new people? In other words, to go out or to not go out? Has the threat of campus security ever made this decision for you?” with answers Yes, No and Maybe.
A general theme of this survey seems to allude to the ability to party or not party on campus. Social life is a big aspect of the college experience; however, this matters to some students more than others.
As I was talking to my peers and discussing what they thought of the survey and the questions that it entailed, I received answers saying that the way Campus Safety and Security Officers shut down many parties on the weekend has made students rethink their decision to go to the University of Lynchburg and some students have transferred to other schools because of this.
Some students expressed that they had parents or older siblings attend the university prior to them and had drastically different social lives than the current students have today and were disappointed by this.
In contrast, other students expressed how they have never had a problem with Campus Safety and Security and while partying is not important to them, they understand that it may be for others. All in all, these students said that they had never rethought their decision to go to the university simply because they are not going to school for the sole purpose of social life.
In thinking to myself about the debate that is going on amongst students and in talking to those students, I thought of reasons why social life at the University of Lynchburg may have transformed over the years.
COVID-19
Like everywhere else in the world, the City of Lynchburg and consequently the University of Lynchburg has experienced drastic changes since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic two years ago.
In the spring of 2020, the university had to shut its doors to students and adjust to the world of online learning. Later in the fall of that year, the university set strict guidelines and protocols in order to get students back on campus.
This school year, 2021-2022, we have fully transitioned back to in-person learning and while masks are still required indoors many of the strict protocols have been lifted: no outside guests, and strict capacity protocol for example.
Due to the intensity and the rate in which the virus spreads, Campus Safety and Security had to be more strict when it came to shutting down parties because of capacity limitations in wanting to keep everyone safe.
Some students believe that although rules and regulations have been relaxed, Campus Safety and Security has not relaxed the way that they operate.
Recent Events on Campus
Earlier in the month of February, a student was mugged on campus. Since then, the administration has been making an effort to seek out ways to make sure that students are staying safe on campus.
Due to this event, many students have requested that Campus Safety and Security be more active in the later night, and especially on the weekends. This is a big cause for why many students may have seen a decline in social life in the past few weeks.
Another component of this is the Livesafe app. Livesafe has many features; however, one of the features that has had the largest impact on students’ social life is the ability to report. Any individual who has the app can report any residence for noise complaints. This then makes Campus Safety and Security compliant in shutting down parties if they receive enough complaints.
Changes in Leadership
Over the past 10 to 15 years, there has been a strong turnover in leadership at the University of Lynchburg. This includes changes in both the President of the University and the Dean of Students at the University, now referred to as VP for Student Development.
There have been three different Dean of Students in the past 13 years and two University Presidents within the past five years.
Both of these leadership positions hold a lot of power in the things that they can do. One of the things that I discovered in talking with my peers is that the VP for Student Development has a lot of impact on conduct and the way that conduct is handled.
This then affects how Campus Safety and Security runs. Everything within higher education works with something else, making the issue of Campus Safety and Security being “too strict” not an isolated issue.
Generational Differences
When I first applied to the University of Lynchburg in 2019, I had several family members and friends tell me that the University had a reputation for being a party school. I even frequently heard the term “heathens on the hill” being used in reference to what was then Lynchburg College students.
Since I entered college in the pandemic era, I was not expecting a huge party scene, but was assuming that once restrictions were lifted, the night life would also improve.
In addition to talking to current students, I also talked to former students who enjoyed the social scene when they were students at the university.
I noticed while talking to alumni that the further back their graduation date was, the wilder the social scene was. People that graduated within the past 10 years expressed that there were several good parties on the weekends, but party life was nowhere like bigger surrounding schools such as the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech.
Others that graduated within the last 20 years expressed that streets used to be closed down and students would fill the streets on the weekends. What is now the Commuter building on Vernon Street used to be a bar that was alive with students on the weekends, and the Westover Room was open late on the weekends to students.
All in all, there are many different factors as to why this change in social life is happening and subsequently the rise in strict regulations from Campus Safety and Security members.
All students are entitled to their opinions and create whatever means they believe will make a change for the student body. This being said, it is important to examine all sides of the issue before making any accusations towards one area of the University.