After recent incidents where Mother of God proselytizers approached students and young solicitors bothered students in the Walsh Library, Student Government Association (SGA) representatives met with Public Safety officials to improve security on campus.
In recent weeks, a group of young men called the Shmovie Babies posted a video on YouTube where the internet personalities positioned themselves in various areas of the Walsh Library and blasted loud music. The men pretended as if their music was playing through their headphones, but instead played their music through a hidden speaker. The video was published on April 12 and was titled, “Blasting FUNNY Songs In The LIBRARY! HILARIOUS.”
In response to these incidents, sophomore diplomacy and international relations major and Student Life Committee chair Saveria Antonacci said the Student Life Committee sent SGA Senator Christine Connelly to meet with Public Safety days after these solicitations occurred.
Antonacci said she planned an initiative to raise awareness among the student body about safety tips. SGA senators, Saadet Ceynek, Carolyn Murray and Christine Connelly met with Public Safety officials and collected tips for students.
“We are planning tablings and creating posters to inform students about these tips for the upcoming school year,” Antonacci said. “We kept the rest of SGA informed about this so information will be spread further.”
Moreover, Antonacci expressed SGA wants to promote the best safety policies for students. Nevertheless, she communicated that some safety measures disadvantage some community members.
“One example is when Public Safety shut the second gate to enter campus in order to observe who enters campus,” Antonacci said. “We had to compromise and keep both gates open during high-traffic hours because commuters complained of excessive wait times to get into campus. A lot of this is trial and error but Student Life Committee is actively working to help students feel safer at Seton Hall.”
Connelly, who met with Public Safety, said that the officials emphasized that the campus is a gated campus and many campuses are not. Additionally, in their meeting, Public Safety underscored that pedestrian gates close behind pedestrians. However, Public Safety claimed that solicitors often enter campus through opened gates held open by community members.
Additionally, she said that Public Safety expressed that, “if you see something, call Public Safety and let them know where you are and describe the suspicious individuals.”
Public Safety did not respond to The Setonian’s request for comment.
“Additionally, last I knew, the driven entry gates will include license plate recognition technology,” Connelly said, “So, if any solicitors come onto campus via cars, they will have to pass through the gates with guards.
Thomas Schwartz can be reached at thomas.schwartz@student.shu.edu.
