In an email obtained by the Daily Trojan, USC Vice President for Auxiliary Services Dan Stimmler wrote that the spring priority for USC Transportation is to develop a “permanent solution for secure, tent-free access points.” The University has not stated publicly a plan for the future of checkpoints.

Auxiliary Services is an umbrella organization that manages USC Bookstores, USC Hospitality, USC Housing, USC Transportation, the USC Hotel and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Under the Information Technology section of that email, Stimmler wrote that an “enhanced security perimeter with additional hardware and camera coverage” was a fall semester accomplishment. The University has not publicly mentioned additional camera coverage within the Department of Public Safety zones or pedestrian checkpoints in the fall semester.

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“Campus access continues to operate smoothly, and the ‘fast lanes’ introduced at the beginning of the fall semester have provided quick access for students, faculty and staff to enter without delays,” USC Campus Welcome Services wrote in a Feb. 12 statement to the Daily Trojan. “We continue to review opportunities to improve the levels of service and security at the access points.”

Campus Access management, which communicates information on how to enter the campus, was contacted multiple times but has not responded as of publication. 

Undergraduate Student Government senator Jeremiah Boisrond and USG external affairs committee member Patrick Done said they have been talking with administrators with the goal of taking down the pedestrian checkpoints under the white tents and the internal gates around Alumni Park.

Boisrond said administrators have told USG members that crime has decreased due to the checkpoints. 

“When speaking with administrators, they did bring up a great point about parents and even students feeling safer on campus [with pedestrian checkpoints],” Boisrond said. “I personally felt like USC was safe either [way], but the USC administration has seen a decline in theft.”

DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle shared crime data in a statement to the Daily Trojan. Crimes reported to DPS on the University Park Campus decreased by 42% after the security checkpoints were put in place in August 2024, Carlisle wrote. 

“Theft is our primary concern on campus, particularly electric scooters,” Carlisle wrote. 

Done said he and Boisrond have told administrators that —  according to anecdotal experience and a student survey with several hundred responses — a majority of the student body want the external and internal barriers removed. 

“We found that there was quite a decisive feeling in the student body that the internal barriers had to go, and there was also quite a lot of disdain for the external barriers,” Done said. 

The survey in Fall 2024 found that a majority of students believe the pedestrian checkpoints have affected their student experience at USC. On a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is “not affected” and 5 is “heavily affected,” the average answer was around a 3.7, with 32.9% of respondents choosing 5. Over 80% of students who voted 5 did not want the checkpoint to return in the spring. 

Meanwhile, a December 2024 survey by USC’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors found similar results. The survey found that 72.8% of 345 faculty had negative feelings about the pedestrian checkpoints, some commenting they felt “unwelcoming” to the South Central community. 

The faculty members with positive feelings for the checkpoints had questions about their cost, along with Boisrond. 

“We hope that USC administration will very clearly communicate why these barriers remain and potentially will remain for the long term,” Done said.