Houses on the Fraternity Quad may be prevented from allowing new residents into their houses until the security is satisfied with the matter, in accordance with a memorandum sent out by Dean of The College William Green and Interim Dean of Students Jody Asbury.
The letter follows an incident on Dec. 2, where a cat was mutilated and passed between fraterniries.
Each house’s cooperation will be evaluated on a house by house basis in April, according to Asbury.
As both Greeks and non-Greeks will be affected by this decision, Asbury explained the reasons for it. “We are treating the Fraternity Quad as a neighborhood,” Asbury said. “There was a lot of activity that night, and it’s common to expect neighbors to be alert and aware.”
Community Learning Center member and sophomore Dan Muhlenburg is among those that has been affected by the cat incident. “We’re affected by this incident only in the sense that we’re part of the community of the Quad,” Muhlenburg said.
Speaking on fairness of the application of this policy, he said, “I know it’s still an open case, but filling all the rooms is a very important thing for us. I think that the restrictions are pretty unfair.”
Asbury believes the decision in the letter to be reasonable. “We did this because we needed greater cooperation,” Asbury said. “We felt a certain level of frustration over people not being entirely forthcoming or honest.”
“We don’t want new people to move in until we can be assured that they will be moving into a healthy community,” she continued.
Increased Security
Following the most recent letter, the number of investigators on the case has increased, according to Asbury. As a result of this, residents of the Quad have noticed more security investigators in the area.
President of Theta Chi and junior David Foberg feels threatened by the additional security. “It’s one thing if they see reason for coming in, such as people entering and leaving with cups in their hands,” he said, “but when they start checking in on us on a Tuesday night at random, we feel that our privacy has been violated.”
Foberg also feels that security has been trying to implement random inspections on the Fraternity Quad. “We are adamantly opposed to these measures,” Foberg said.
Chairman of the Fraternites Presidents Council and junior Matt Davison declined comment as a result of ongoing discussion.
According to Director of University Security Walter Mauldin, the Quad is patrolled as much as other residential buildings on campus. “We discussed doing random tours of the residential halls last summer, and we implemented it in the fall semester,” Mauldin said. “This is exactly like what we do in other residential halls. We will not enter a room unless there is some need or if we have been invited to do so.”
Delta Upsilon, however, does not seem to have a problem with security. “Actually security has been really fair to us,” Risk Manager junior Dan Vickery said.
Talking about the policy of patrolling public areas Mauldin said, “This is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for quite some time.”
Some residents of the Quad feel that a distinction should be made between houses and other residential areas. Foberg said, “This is our home, not a dormitory.”
Mauldin feels that security officers are more easily noticed in the Fraternity Quad than in residential halls. “There is a different feeling on the Fraternity Quad,” Mauldin said. “The space there is much more personal.”
In a departure from talking about policy matters, Foberg also discussed the security officers themselves. “As for the individual officers, we have never had a problem,” he said. “They are courteous and usually make an attempt to find an officer before they start walking around.”
Schnee can be reached at cschnee@campustimes.org.
