By Currier Times Staff///

Curry students have been alarmed by some recent incidents where off-campus intruders came into a residence hall, and a fight in the Marketplace on campus left a student injured. These confrontations have occurred while the college conducts interviews to replace the Public Safety Chief, after former chief, Paul King, abruptly left the college earlier in the semester.

In the most recent incident the weekend of October 25th, students in Milton Hall confronted off-campus trespassers who banged on doors inside the residence hall and even brandished a gun in front of residents.

In an email to the Curry community, college administrators said that Milton Police was investigating and video surveillance was being reviewed.

“While law enforcement continues their investigation of this incident the Milton Police Department will continue [to] patrol the campus,” said Erik Muurisepp, the Vice-President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, in the email.

In the wake of the departure of former Chief King and other high-ranking officials in the Public Safety department, the college has hired an off-campus security firm, Windwalker Security, to assist with Public Safety operations.

Students are still concerned. Karen Lawrence, a first-year Nursing student, feels more transparency is necessary.

“It’s kind of nuts. I don’t really know,” said Lawrence. “They need to do something about it cause it’s scary.” 

Lawrence added, “I feel pretty secure here but I definitely think that they need to obviously push the security measures a little bit if this stuff is being allowed on campus, especially for students who pay a lot of money to feel safe here.”

Selam Ianno, a first-year Criminal Justice major, said his first emotion was feeling nervous.

“The second emotion I was feeling right after was just disappointment in Public Safety, just because I feel like it’s their job to protect their students,” said Ianno. “And in that moment it could have been anybody and it could have escalated.” 

Michael Desir, a Sophomore majoring in Business, said it’s time for more security. 

“To be honest when I heard about it, I felt unsafe,” said Desir. “They need to get some sort of locking or something at the gates cause this is something that’s happened like multiple times.”

It’s unclear if the intruders came through the front gate, which is manned 24 hours a day, although some students say the security is not always perfect with some cars being waved through without much attention.

In an updated email, Muurisepp said there will be new enhancements for lighting, access controls, and front gate procedures, in addition to new updates with having residence hall visitors.

“This updated process will require students to pre-register their non-Curry guests and visitors in the Housing Portal prior to their arrival,” Muurisepp wrote in an email. “Guests will then receive a digital ‘active visitor pass’ that will allow them access at the front gate and within the residence hall the guest is visiting.”

All of this comes after an earlier incident on campus where a fight broke out in the Marketplace of the Dining Center. The altercation turned physical and in video reviewed by a Currier Times reporter, it involved one of the participants needing to receive medical attention.

Muurisepp at that time said the fight was an “isolated” incident and the two would be referred to the college’s Community Standards and Accountability office.

Meanwhile, interviews have begun for a new head of Public Safety. Muurisepp said three finalists have been invited to campus to meet with a variety of faculty, staff, administrators and students.

“We are on track to appoint a new Director and Chief by the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Muurisepp.