By Rivka Inger, Features Editor
It’s no secret that due to increasing instances of antisemitism on college campuses, the YU administration has gone to great lengths to bolster security on its premises. Early in the semester, for example, there was a noticeable increase in NYPD presence on both campuses, among other provisions. Although security measures have naturally expanded in the past eleven months, one such change caused immense frustrations among a specific demographic of students: commuters.
As of this semester, Beren campus students who live off campus can no longer access any dorms buildings without an escort who lives there. That resident must accompany them at all times. This has sparked a fair deal of resentment among commuters, who can no longer spend time with friends in the dorms without being physically taken up to the room by another student. This new rule makes it impossible for commuters to hang out or rest in their friends’ room, or do work in the lounges by themselves, since security bars them from entering alone. For many, this can severely detract from the YU experience, as days become long and exhausting.
One student who has been negatively affected by this change is Dalya Franklin (SCW ‘25), whose recent marriage now prevents her from dorming and thereby restricts her from easily visiting many of her friends. “As a new commuter I did not know about the new rule change concerning commuter[s],” Franklin told the YU Observer. “I was given a very difficult time by a security guard who asked why I should have access [to the dorms], and was getting frustrated by my confusion with the new rule.”
Needless to say, a lot of additional displeasure from Beren campus students stems from the apathetic or even aggressive attitude from security regarding a brand new and inconvenient rule that students were never informed of before the start of the school year. “In my opinion, if I am in Stern College or Syms and can apply for dorming, why can’t I go as a student who chose not to dorm to visit a friend without the hassle?” Franklin continued. “It feels very unwelcoming, and if I wanted to live in a dorm, I would. I obviously don’t have plans to mooch and use a dorm to live in unofficially.”
This new rule also means that commuters cannot go independently into dorm rooms to utilize their friends’ resources including beds, desks, bathrooms, or even just a quiet place to sit and relax.
The YU Observer reached out to YU Security on September 16, 2024 inquiring about the reasoning behind this added security measure and has yet to receive a response.
Franklin explicitly expressed her dissatisfaction with losing access to certain facilities as well as the dorms. The security guard on duty did allow Franklin into the Brookdale Residence Hall back lounge as a special exception due to having to wait an hour and a half for the 5:45 shuttle.
Bruria Schwartz (SCW ‘26) has shared similar thoughts, saying that a lot of hassle was created by YU, who never officially announced the new rule. “The process to approve visitors isn’t instant, which means that I can’t randomly decide to hang out with friends or study in a dorm building,” Schwartz told the YU Observer.
Elisheva Szczupakiewicz (SCW ‘27) shared with the YU Observer that this rule even makes her feel like a “second class student.”
This point brings to light a disturbing – though likely unintentional – byproduct of the new rule: those who choose not to live on campus for financial or medical reasons now have access to fewer facilities than those who can live on campus. In this regard, it makes a lot of sense that students like Szczupakiewicz would feel uncomfortable upon being refused entry to the dorms merely because they commute to school.
If anything, gaining these students’ perspectives has revealed the implications of forbidding commuters from entering the dorms. This isn’t just an inconvenience, but an active obstacle in allowing them to make the most of their experience at YU.
Photo Caption: Outside the Beren campus security office
Photo Credit: Ashley Hefner