On Oct. 13, the faculty-run Facilities Planning Committee approved a Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) proposal to provide card access to 190 High St, which will be implemented this summer. The proposal, brought forth by WSA Finance and Facilities Committee (FiFac) Chair Zach Malter ’11, follows a year-long controversy over access to the student facility, and has created additional questions about who controls the building.
“190 High St. is one building that’s pretty well utilized, but at the same time it’s overlooked,” said Malter, who also serves as the WSA representative to University Major Maintenance. “It’s never had the proper card access to give students the opportunity to control who has access, which is essential when a lot of meetings there have a confidential element to them. There are a lot of identity groups that meet there, so it’s a place that should be secure and a place where students should feel comfortable. I think card access fosters safety, but also a feeling of community.”
The building houses the Queer Resource Center (QRC) and the University Organizing Center (UOC), a meeting and organizing space for student groups. The building also holds the offices of numerous student groups such as Hermes, 8 to 8, and Amnesty International, which are designated a space each year by the Community Outreach and External Affairs Committee (COEAC) of the WSA. According to WSA President Micah Feiring ’11, although student group leaders are currently given keys to their respective offices, only the UOC intern, the QRC intern, and the COEAC chair are given front door keys.
“In previous years, keys got copied a lot, and there were security issues there,” he said. “Within the last 3 years, the entire building got re-keyed, including the QRC and UOC offices. Access is difficult because you have to be put on a list, which [WSA Office Coordinator] Lisa Hendrix gives to Public Safety.”
Malter said that the limited number of keys has created a safety risk for students wishing to enter the building.
“[The building] is often unlocked during operation hours, which poses a security risk when supervision isn’t the same as in places like Olin or Usdan,” he said. “When it’s locked it creates situations in which students have to wait outside for extended periods, particularly at night. Now it’s going to be a lot more systematic, and I think it gives the building more legitimacy.”
The proposal will allow student leaders to access the facility without having to coordinate with Public Safety or other key holders of the building. According to Feiring, card access will allow all students to enter the facility during designated business hours, which was not possible with the prior key-based system.
“Student groups still have keys to their own office space, but card access gives us flexibility to have a lot more people in a secure way,” he said.
Although the proposal was passed over a week ago, student leaders have expressed concern that they were never consulted about the initiative. UOC intern Meggie McGuire ’12 admitted she had not heard about proposal.
“Generally its indicative of the continuing lack of communication between the student groups who use the space and the WSA,” said Paul Blasenheim ’12, who regularly uses the UOC. “The WSA doesn’t know what’s best for the UOC, and maybe card access is, but the fact that the intern doesn’t even know about this idea is a bigger problem. “
According to Dawn Brown, Area Coordinator for Residential Life (ResLife), card access is a facilities issue and is not determined by members of the UOC, which makes up only three rooms in the building. Brown, who hires the UOC intern, also said that she did not know about the proposal.
Blasenheim said that he was not sure these measures would improve accessibility problems students have faced.
“I’m conflicted,” he said. “While I think card access might be a good idea, issues of accessibility should be determined by the students who are invested in and organize the space. Questions of how card access would be operated should not be determined by the WSA alone. As it stands, no one from the UOC, the Queer Resource Center or the Hermes (the three major residents of 190 High St.) were consulted about the decision.”
According to Feiring, although COEAC will likely determine specific business hours for the building, which will limit access, these hours have not yet been determined.
Because of the high priority the Faculties Planning Committee placed on the proposal, funding for the initiative will come from the budget of Major Maintenance, a committee of Physical Plant. Although no cost will be placed on students, Blasenheim was concerned that the plan may affect future initiatives.
“Even if it comes out of the Physical Plant budget, that’s coming from somewhere, so if the UOC comes with some other proposal to, for example, put in a wheelchair ramp, they’ll pull this up. The problem really comes when the WSA makes these decisions rather than students who use the building. Even if we argue that we didn’t want card access, that will be a problem.”
Concern about 190 High St. access began last fall, when student groups learned that a few WSA representatives attempted renovations in the basement without authorization from the WSA, administration, or student groups using the space. Student groups reported some materials moved or missing, prompting several meetings between the WSA and student groups regarding ownership and access to the space.
According to Malter, these complaints were a factor considered in his proposal for card access.
“There’s been a history stemming from when there were more public problems with the space,” he said. “It seems like the outcry seems to have quieted down, but its just been a longstanding thing. This is a request that’s been made by student groups in the past.”
Feiring said that the WSA plans to continue to improve relations with student groups who use the space.
“After that happened at the end of last year, the WSA began meeting with the students who use the space,” he said. “We’ve been trying to find out what students want and how to make the space more amenable to student group needs. Overwhelmingly what we’ve heard is that students have access issues. This is the first step in addressing access, and I’m sure we’re going to look at more ways to make the space more useful to students in the future.”
McGuire said that the confusion over the proposal might just inspire a better relationship between the WSA and student groups.
“[Card access] could be a really positive step in making 190 High more accessible for student use,” she said “But I also hope that now that the lack of communication between the WSA and the QRC, Hermes, and myself has been pointed out, it could be an incentive for students in the WSA to improve communication and clarify our relationship, ideally with the ultimate goal of making the space as accessible as possible for students.”
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