Scripps College installed cameras on the third floor of Balch Hall on Oct. 7 in response to a report of vandalism of a faculty member’s door. The college notified faculty of the newly placed cameras, though a general statement has not been made to the larger Scripps community.
The third floor of Balch houses offices for most of the politics faculty at Scripps College.
“The College received a report of targeted vandalism of a faculty member’s office door on the third floor of Balch and responded by installing security cameras at multiple locations on the third floor,” Mary Hatcher-Skeers, Scripps vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty, said in email correspondence with TSL.
Hatcher-Skeers said that the incident involved the removal of an item from a faculty member’s door; however, further information was not provided.
“The college takes such acts seriously and has engaged an independent investigator,” Hatcher-Skeers said.
While the footage is not actively being reviewed live, Campus Safety will be able to access the footage if an incident occurs in the covered area, according to Hatcher-Skeers.
Scripps Professor of Politics Thomas Kim finds the placement of cameras in Balch to be strange.
“I’ve had an office on the third floor of Balch for over 20 years and never felt unsafe,” he said. “The argument that the cameras are for our safety is implausible to me.”
Mar Golub, another Scripps politics professor whose office is located in the area containing cameras, said that both they and many colleagues feel opposed to the cameras and confused by their implementation.
“I know many faculty on Balch’s third [floor] who feel deeply uncomfortable about being surveilled as we enter our offices,” Golub said in email correspondence with TSL. “I’ve heard students express concerns that they can’t attend faculty office hours without being videoed, and without being given a choice. I share these concerns.”
Tess Frazer SC ’26 said she wasn’t aware of the cameras implemented until she learned about it from a professor.
“I’m uncomfortable with the idea that I’m being recorded without my knowledge and without my consent,” she said.
“ ‘I’m uncomfortable with the idea that I’m being recorded without my knowledge and without my consent,’ Frazer said. ”
Frazer is a politics student as well as a CORE mentor, meaning that she frequents the third floor of Balch for meetings with professors.
“There’s something very unsettling about the fact that the college didn’t publicize this information and that we’re not made aware of where these cameras are, when we’re being recorded, and not directly giving consent to be recorded,” Frazer said. “It makes me wonder: When else am I being recorded?”
The purpose of the cameras is “to ensure safety in response to targeted vandalism,” Hatcher-Skeers said in email correspondence with TSL.
The surveillance of professors and students across the campuses is problematic to Golub. They said that although it is easy to forget, campus security has cameras installed all across the 5Cs in various locations many are unaware of.
“The issue is part of a larger trend of policing and surveilling public spaces,” Golub said.
Frazer said that she believes this Balch Hall camera installation is consistent with crackdowns across the 5Cs on student protests through heightened campus surveillance.
“I think it’s a continuing trend that we’ve seen, especially in the last three years, and especially regarding student activism around Palestine,” she said.“ … I do think that it disrupts our ability to make political statements as students and join together and speak freely without concern of retribution.”
Additionally, Frazer said she believes the implementation of cameras should be publicized and students should be made aware that they are being recorded.
“I wish Scripps would be much more upfront about their policy around surveillance and cameras,” she said. “I wish that there was more clarity and that they would announce when they make changes like this to the student body, too.”
When asked by TSL, Hatcher-Skeers did not answer whether Scripps intends to notify students of the camera installations.
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