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When I think back to my first Fordham visit, I recall being entirely mortified when my father asked the tour guide question after question regarding Fordham security. He was worried about his daughter being in the Bronx, understandable, but I did not think it was necessary for him to be pestering our Rose Hill ambassador. I assured him that, of course, Fordham security was satisfactory and that he needed to relax. I could not have been more incorrect, however. I feel completely safe living in the Bronx, but I credit that to my being smart and aware, not because of the work of our insufficient security guards.
My first legitimate interaction with a Fordham security guard was last September during the fall of my freshman year. I had not yet gone to the library for an extended period of time, so I picked an afternoon to camp out there. I had been studying for a short while on the fourth floor in a rather secluded area, when I noticed a man, who appeared to be speaking and was waving a sweatshirt around in the air, pushing a cart of books.
I assumed the man was an employee of the library and was questioning library-goers as to if the sweatshirt belonged to anyone. As he got closer to me, I realized that he was not speaking real words and was obviously mentally challenged. The man angrily started pushing his cart into my cubicle, waving the sweatshirt in my face and yelling jibberish a few inches from my face.
I will not include my thoughts about why a man of this state should absolutely not be working in a library (perhaps to meet some sort of quota?) but to make a long story short, I became very upset with this interaction and the fact that the man would not leave me alone. I ended up running down the stairs and explaining my story through tears to the extremely unfazed security guard at the front desk who, after I was finally able to understand because of his incommunicable accent, provided me with a ridiculous response: "Oh, yeah, well, he's never been the same since his accident." Talk about a complete under-reaction. I could not go to the library for weeks following that incident.
However, the library security can certainly overreact, as well. Last week, I checked out a DVD for the first time ever. I was not aware that the DVD sensor would activate the alarm, which is what occurred as I attempted to exit the library. Immediately upon hearing the alarm, I retreated to the front desk to apologize, explaining my being new to the rental process and produce my ID and checkout slip on my DVD. The guard proceeded to angrily and loudly scold me, yelling for me to walk through the sensors again and to, "never do that again!" shooting me seething looks every chance he got.
I do not think it was possible for me to apologize any mor than I did. I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head as I exited, completely humiliated. I thought I was going to get away with stealing that old Gene Hackman film I needed to watch for class! I can sense a power trip.
I know that I am not the only one has had conflicts with our security; friends have shared similar stories about angry security guard at the library flipping out about various trivial matters. I know of students flashing their debit cards to get onto campus. A fellow Ram staffer told me that a few months ago, a security guard looked at her ID and asked to see her "new ID." Apparently, someone had shown the guard an incorrect ID and convinced him that the real, current ones were old and the one the imposter had shown was the correct one. Basically, the staffer explained, the guard had no idea what a current Fordham ID looked like, but was letting random people on campus.
I work in the Lombardi Center, and know fairly well the guards who work there. Sometimes they will simply say hello and ask how I am ask I walk through the turnstile; other times, they will matter-of-factly ask to see an ID. This usually goes in a cycle: if there was a recent act of theft, they will react by trying to enforce rules more strictly, then they will typically loosen up after a week-consistent.
One tends to find these lax policies in many places around campus. I am sure many are familiar with an FMH guard who is more concerned with speaking on her headset to her buddies than checking for IDs. (She better watch out because someone might show her a "new" one.)
These anecdotes are not intended to lead to a blanket statement. Do I feel that every, single security guard at Fordham is incompetent? Of course not. However, I feel as though security really needs to step it up. Another Ram staffer had a good point when he proposed that the security we have is more of a presence, just bodies, if you will. I am fully confident in the upper, administrative branch of our Safety and Security, but the personnel who are actually out securing our campus and buildings within really need to enforce the safety measures a bit more, or else I would have to encourage fathers of future prospective students to go ahead and ask about our security. They have some explaining to do.
Abigail Forget, FCRH '12, is a double major in communication and English from Attleboro, Mass. She can be contacted at aforget@fordham.edu.
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