With homecoming approaching this weekend, campus safety and security (CSS) and dining services, among other College departments, will adjust their schedules and staffing to handle the crowded campus.
“We review all planned campus activities including other sporting events, coordinate with area emergency responders and prepare detail assignments and maps with parking instructions for all events,” Director of CSS Dave Boyer said. “We also work with other College departments on their planning so all activities are coordinated.”
Boyer additionally noted changes CSS makes in officer rotation and placement for the weekend. “Homecoming is a mandatory weekend for all members of CSS,” he said. “We staff [heavily] in all areas – campus patrol, special events and communications – due to the nature of the weekend and higher call volumes. We also have Williamstown Police officers at the football game assisting with traffic and crowd control.”
According to Jerry Byers, the unit manager of retail student dining, dining services also shifts its scheduling for homecoming. “We close Whitmans’ for breakfast and lunch, and Driscoll for lunch on Saturday to prepare for events that happen around campus,” Byers said.
“Most of the preparation comes from the groups that order our services on campus,” he added. “We use our own historical data to prepare for what we know is coming. Honestly, we do this so often that preparation on our part is minimal.”
Though many of the visitors to campus are alums of the College, they are not treated differently by the College than any other visitors to campus are.
“There is no special policy, members of the alumni are visitors to the campus,” Boyer said. “With alumni, we are usually able to talk through a situation with friends or classmates to help calm a situation.”
Senior Associate Dean of the College Rachel Bukanc concurred. “Non-students cannot be held to the Student Code of Conduct, but applicable laws and campus policies still apply,” she said.
“CSS can take the step of ‘posting’ any individual from campus, whether they are affiliated with the College or not,” added Brooks Foehl ’88, director of alumni relations. “This means the individual is not allowed on campus and in campus-owned buildings. This is not a common occurrence but ‘postings’ do happen.”
As for students from other colleges who visit, Boyer gave an example from two years ago to indicate CSS’s low tolerance for rulebreaking. “A student from another college was caught stealing Williams banners,” Boyer said. “He was removed from campus by CSS and told not to return. The student changed his clothes, returned to campus and was immediately turned over to the Williamstown Police Department.”
“That student was eventually bailed out of jail by his friends and taken back to Amherst.”
