Faculty survey shows negative reaction to security checkpoints
Some respondents described campus security as “elitist,” “unfriendly” and “unwelcoming.”
By NIKA LLAMANZARES
USC’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors conducted a survey last December and found that 72.8% of 345 faculty respondents had negative feelings about the security checkpoints.
Laura Isabel Serna, an associate professor of history as well as, cinema and media studies and the secretary and treasurer of the USC-AAUP, said faculty members are generally concerned about the cost of the measures and the privatization of the once-open campus.
She said the security measures appear to have used a significant portion of University funds, but the administration has not been transparent about its cost.
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“Some people who said that they were neutral about the checkpoints, or even felt positively about them … still had questions about their cost,” Serna said.
Serna also said some faculty members believe the privatization of the campus contradicts USC’s intentions to strengthen community relationships. In the USC-AAUP survey’s free-response section, some of the 170 anonymous respondents wrote that the campus now gives the impression of being “elitist” and “unwelcoming” to community members.
Students, staff and faculty are required to scan their ID cards at security checkpoints to enter campus. (Fin Liu / Daily Trojan)
Julianna Kirschner, a part-time lecturer of communication, said she used to invite members of surrounding communities to interact with her students but does not anymore due to complications from the security checkpoints.
“The ‘fast lanes’ introduced at the beginning of the fall semester have provided quick access for students, faculty and staff to enter without delays,” Campus Welcome Services wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “So far this year, we have had more than 4.2 million swipes or taps from the USC community, including our neighbors who can register on site.”
Howard Rodman, a screenwriting professor at the School of Cinematic Arts and former USC-AAUP president, said the University no longer emphasizes community compared to when he first arrived on campus.
“This seems a large step away from USC as a part of the community that surrounds us,” Rodman said. “The face we present to the world now is ‘we are a walled garden — don’t you dare set foot here unless you have a proper reason.’”
Serna said some faculty members were also confused about why the campus had remained private despite other campuses removing their security measures after spring 2024 pro-Palestinian protests.
From the 170 respondents who answered the free response question, the survey results read that “a minority” of members felt safer, as they believed the checkpoints prevented antisemitic protests and potentially dangerous individuals from entering the campus.
Kirschner said the checkpoints are managed unevenly, as she believes everyone walking on foot would be asked for their identification, but when she enters by car, only the driver is asked for identification, not their passengers. She said the inequity of the protocols could affect the actual protection of the campus.
Rodman said the checkpoints act as “security theater” rather than effective precautions against unclear threats.
“I have, since the beginning of Allied Security, never once been asked for my ID,” Rodman said. “Clearly, this is designed more to be a show of safety than it is any effective measure to keep our campus safe.”
The USC-AAUP initially expressed these concerns to President Carol Folt at the start of the Fall 2024 semester.
