Students apprehensive as Hofstra University Public Safety prepares for the first presidential debate of 2016
Hofstra University students are buzzing about what may be coined as the biggest event on campus this year. On Monday, September 26th, the New York school will become the first university to host three consecutive presidential debates and no one seems to be working harder to prepare for that than the David S. Mack Department of Public Safety.
“Hofstra University has worked closely with various law enforcement agencies in preparation for the Presidential Debate including Federal, State, and Local agencies,” Karen O’Callaghan, Director of Public Safety, said. “There will be increased patrols of campus, limitations on access to who comes onto the campus during the debate, and various road closures the day of the debate in order to provide increased security to the campus.”
In preparation for the debate, Public Safety will be expanding the tours of their Public Safety Officers. They will be working 12-hour shifts and there will be additional officers working each shift. When it comes to on-campus restrictions, students have been instructed that the roads around the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex will be closed beginning on Wednesday, September 21st. Parking field six (between Graduate Residence Hall, Alliance, Bill of Rights and Estabrook) will also close by the end of the day. Students are being asked to move their cars to the parking lot next to HofUSA or behind Constitution.
“As annoying as the parking restrictions are, what else would they have done realistically,” Amanda Palomino, Senior Journalism Major, said.
Palomino is a current resident of Hofstra University who dorms in Estabrook. When discussing reports of commuter complaints in the news, she said that while complaining is understandable, she doesn’t fault Public Safety for the parking situation. “In the long run, a few days of parking somewhere else, especially if you’re a resident not using your car those days, is not the end of the world,” she said.
Along with road closures and parking restrictions, a no-guest policy has been implemented for the residence halls beginning at noon on Friday, September 23rd. This means that only current Hofstra University students may enter the residence halls. The ban will be lifted at noon on Tuesday, September 27th.
“From what I’ve seen Public Safety has been trying really hard to make campus safe,” Leana Gianan, 7th Floor Resident Assistant of Estabrook, said. “While the new resident hall guest policy is a good policy to have, I don’t necessarily know how much it’s going to be enforced only because people have ADA access, they can open the big emergency exit doors, and anyone can just jump into the turnstile behind a friend to get into the residence halls.”
Gianan said she does trust the Public Safety and Resident Safety staff to keep residents safe, but there are ways to get around the system. “I think overall people want to stay safe,” she said. “I’ve already started seeing Public Safety Officers everywhere and because of the debate, they have to be on their game.”
“Student safety is of the utmost concern for both the Department of Public Safety and the entire University administration,” O’Callaghan said. “Even if the debate were not happening, it is important for students to know that we are continually reviewing our emergency response policies and procedures and making facility enhancements to the campus.”
Hofstra University’s Department of Public Safety has been working to enhance student safety on campus. They have installed additional security cameras, over 50 blue-light emergency telephones around the campus, and have recently provided a new transportation service with the Hofstra Night Shuttle, which runs overnight to help students move around the local community safely between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“Overall, people just want to stay safe,” Gianan said. “It’s our job to look out for student safety—it’s in all of us.”
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