All posts by Sophia Marcus, Correspondent

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Do female students feel safe on campus?

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Women share their perspectives

Women’s public safety has been a huge topic of concern around the United States, and college campuses have been a main concern. Safety of students should be the first priority of Northern Essex, second is education, but is that the case? About 50% of public schools in the country have armed officers present, and Northern Essex is not one of them. While stories such as Brock Turner have been so popular in the media, female students safety has been more of a concern.

When talking to different female Northern Essex students about how they feel about their own safety here on campus, there were many different opinions. Vanessa Muthee, a 19 year old Northern Essex student seemed to not worry too much about her safety being threatened on campus… “I feel that NECC is comfortable environment for me, I’ve been to colleges where that wasn’t the case but i’ve never felt unsafe here.” Muthee has never felt her safety was threatened on campus and that is what we hope every student feels like.

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I feel that NECC is comfortable environment for me, I’ve been to colleges where that wasn’t the case but i’ve never felt unsafe here.
– Vanessa Muthee

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I then spoke to Zoe Clark Hanson who although said she felt safe on campus she has dealt with an unnerving classmate… “He was always staring at girls trying to make them uncomfortable and making creepy comments.” As a student myself, this seems to be a common issue and I encourage you to speak up and report any unnerving incidents to the public safety department here at Northern Essex. The contact number for public safety in Haverhill is 978-556-3689, in Lawrence 978-665-5939, or Riverwalk 978-659-1299.

Lastly I spoke to Lexi Fontaine, Opinion Editor, who had  a lot to say on the topic… “As a female student I’ve never felt unsafe in any particular situation, however after I found out that there were only 2 security guards on NECC’s campus it made me question the safety of the school over all. A lot of college campuses where students live on them have their own police stations and complete own security system in place. I understand that since we are a community college and a commuter college that it is a different situation, but the safety and security of students should be the number one priority. For example we do have something similar to a ‘blue light’ system in the parking lot where if you ever feel unsafe walking to your car you can press the button to call the police, but these buttons are very poorly advertised. Many people don’t know we have them and could not tell you where they are which would not be helpful in an emergency situation outside. I think overall northern Essex could do a better job communicating with its students about public safety and our safety, and in general make students know that they are safe.” Although Fontaine has not had any eccounters that threatened her own safety, she still worries about the lack of security overall. She also stated that many students don’t know about the blue lights in the parking lot which is something all students should be educated about.

Public Safety should be Northern Essex first priority, female students safety is a huge concern in our country and should be something that is taken very seriously within this school. If you see or hear something, speak up and report the incident to the public safety department.

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Talking security

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Do students want their professors armed?

Do Students at Northern Essex want their professors to be armed? As many of us have seen online and on television, school gun violence is a very controversial issue. We may all want the same end result, no more gun violence, but there are many different opinions on how to achieve that such as stricter gun control laws, more security within the schools, and even arming teachers and professors.  Arming teachers and professors has been one of the most controversial solutions with it being possibly more dangerous.

Massachusetts law currently says:

“Whoever, not being a law enforcement officer and notwithstanding any license obtained by the person pursuant to chapter 140, carries on the person a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or other dangerous weapon in any building or on the grounds of any elementary or secondary school, college or university without the written authorization of the board or officer in charge of the elementary or secondary school, college or university shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or both.” However, some states do allow concealed carry on college campuses and some have advocated for arming teachers in the wake of various school shootings.

Do Northern Essex students think arming professors is a good idea? After speaking to NECC student Alexa Haded, it shows that you can be in favor of the Second Amendment but still not believe in solving gun violence with arming professors. After asking Haded’s opinion on whether or not they should be arming professors she said…“I believe in the right to bear arms which is why I’ll be getting my ltc (license to carry) to protect myself. Everyone has that option but it shouldn’t be forced upon professors.” NECC student Cameron DiGenova had a different take to the matter, believing it should be up to the professor… “I think if a professor has a license for concealed carry they can have it if they want, but students should not know about it and they should never see it unless there is an active shooter. But it shouldn’t be mandatory.”

He seemed very passionate about this topic, believing that carrying a weapon should be up to the individual, regardless of their profession. Vanessa Muthee, had another opinion when it came to this topic… “If they do have guns, they are more likely to misuse it. What if they feel threatened by a student?”  This has been a common opinion when debated in the news and online.  Although gun violence can be a sensitive topic, students here at Northern Essex seemed to have very strong opinions about it.  Regardless of different opinions on how to solve the gun violence epidemic, everyone has a common goal, of ending school violence once and for all.

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Talking Security

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Director of Public Safety seeks feedback

Public safety has been a topic of interest for Northern Essex students and faculty for a long time. There have been many events in schools across the country that increase the fear and concern on campus. At Northern Essex specifically,  questions have come up such as “Is three security guards enough?” or “What do the security guards even do?” and the NECC community wants answers. NECC has three security guards during the day and three at night. Their jobs include locking doors, tracking down stolen items,and being the eyes and ears of the school, to name a few. They have no weapons nor are they allowed to touch students for any reason. Some schools have an armed police officer on campus in case of emergencies, Northern Essex does not. Northern Essex recently hired Director of Public Safety Deborah Crafts, who is looking to improve public safety on campus. Crafts is open to all faculty and staff, and can be reached at dcrafts@necc.mass.edu. She has years of experience in law enforcement, and she is very dedicated to “improve public safety here a Northern Essex by implementing current best practice for safety on college campuses.”

Crafts had a lot to say on the matter when asked what she wanted the Northern Essex public to know in regards to public safety. “Public Safety needs to move from a more reactive model to a proactive model,” she said. “Security on college campuses used to mean simply locking doors, jumpstarting cars, and patrolling buildings for hazards such as water leaks or broken stairs.  In today’s society the expectations of campus public safety are much, much broader to include law enforcement, emergency planning, technology, compliance, and community policing to name a few.  This translates to handling calls for service such as hostile intruders, individuals with mental illness, planning for large scale disasters such as kitchen fires, science lab explosions, hurricanes or gas leaks.  Public Safety also needs to be tech savvy so we can handle the different types of software required for our job such as alarms systems, camera technology, or records required to be accurate by law.”

Many students here at NECC say they want the public safety systems in place to be revamped and taken more seriously. Now that NECC has a Director of Public Safety, students and faculty can look for and discuss the changes they want to see. If a student or faculty member have any issues regarding public safety, they are encouraged to speak up and reach out to Deborah Crafts.