TSL expressed concern over a possible Campus Safety policy change in last week’s editorial, but—as we pointed out might be the case—our portrayal of the potential change misconstrued the actual content of the proposal. Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum clarified the new policy, and we now see that it would not result in the drastic changes we feared.
One of our chief concerns was that the student body was not informed of the nature of the proposal. Students had been given no opportunity to consider its merits or faults, or to offer their opinion on it. We appreciate Dean Feldblum’s response to our editorial, in which she outlined the policy’s specifics and made us, along with the student body, aware of the possible change.
The new policy is not meant to increase Campus Safety’s role in searching student rooms, according to Feldblum. Campus Safety officers would only enter a student’s room “when authorized by a college official, and when a college official is present.” Furthermore, Campus Saftey officers would not search student rooms themselves. They would merely act as witnesses while college officials conducted the search. Campus Safety would contact the Claremont Police Department only if deemed necessary based on the findings of the search.
The chief concern we had about the policy was that it would give Campus Safety access to a student’s room whether or not the student was present. According to Feldblum, the new proposal states that in order for a Campus Safety officer to enter a student’s room, a college official must sign a form along with Campus Safety informing the student that “a dean and Campus Safety were there.” The standards required for deans entering rooms have not changed, Feldblum said.
While we had been concerned that students had not been informed of policy changes that could greatly affect their lives, we thank Dean Feldblum for clarifying the proposal and assuring us that no drastic changes will be enacted.