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Trinity Students Oppose Gating Campus

By Kerri Provost

March 11, 2012

About forty students and a few staff allies at Trinity have drafted an open letter dealing with safety issues on campus. They have said that a number of students have been critical of the recent rally

Dear Trinity Community,

We write to you as fellow Trinity students. We come as individuals who are deeply

saddened in regards to last weekend’s assault against our classmate Chris Kenny. We

hope for his speedy recovery and will continue to keep him and his family in our prayers.

We have come to understand that some students feel the answer to stop crime is to isolate

the Trinity Community from the Hartford Community. This letter is not a response to

the unfortunate events of last weekend, but rather, it is a response to the ever-present

discourse of erecting a gate. We understand the emotional impulse to create a barrier

but this is not a sustainable or sensitive solution. For the following reasons, we urge the

campus to consider other means of increasing safety and security for ALL students:

It goes without saying that safety is important to everyone. However, we must consider

that safety does not mean the same thing for everyone. There are Trinity students

from Hartford. A gate threatens to not only estrange them from the community they

call home but also causes conflict within Trinity. If we continue to perceive all Hartford

residents as “the other” we alienate fellow Trinity students whose family and life-

long friends may be considered “Hartford locals” as well. In addition, we regard the

term “Hartford Local” to be a racially charged epithet. The phrase often conjures the

image of a Black or Latino, marginalized, working class individual. Many of our Black

and Latino classmates have cited incidents of Campus Safety being called on them or

being denied entrance to College facilities. How might our understanding of “the other”

further alienate students of color on campus?

A gate would only give us the illusion of safety. Trinity cannot and should never

become a fortress. While the idea of closing the campus to non-students during certain

times of day seems like it may discourage crime, we must acknowledge that most crime

on campus takes place between students. Therefore whatever security measures we

demand must address crime in ALL its forms at Trinity. The building of a gate suggests

that the criminal exists solely outside of our walls, which is false on many levels. On

average, there are 5 reported sexual assaults each semester between students.

Adding a gate would undermine community service projects. Trinity College prides

itself, and rightly so, on community service endeavors. We have many initiatives,

including Do it Day, mentoring and tutoring projects, and Trinfo Cafe. Moreover, we

have community-learning components in courses like Analyzing Schools and Hispanic

Hartford that encourage students to find meaningful ways to connect their Trinity studies

to the Hartford community. If Trinity were to install a gate, we send the message that

our relationship with Hartford is selective and conditional. It suggests that Trinity feels

comfortable enough to allow Hartford residents to participate in community service

programs, but does not trust them enough to simply walk through campus. We must be

consistent.

Trinity Students are more likely to live and work in urban environments than

any other place after graduation. Living in an urban city gives Trinity students an

advantage by setting up a structured environment in which to practice for the “Real

world”. By having this unique experience of living in a city, students have the

opportunity to learn these skills while being supported by campus amenities like the

Campus Shuttle. It would be favorable to see an increase of campus safety measures. We

also recommend a series of urban-living workshops to help. Trinity, as an institution,

can help support students by providing spaces to educate us about ways to better prepare

ourselves for Trinity and beyond.

A gate would cement this notion that Trinity and Hartford are separate and distinct realms. The current dialogue around closing off the Trinity College campus has been

focused on a dichotomy of the Hartford Community versus Trinity College students. We

are more than just a community of students. The Hartford Community exists within and

throughout the Trinity campus. Professors, Chartwell chefs, landscapers, security guards,

day care kids, coaches, and President Jones all call Hartford home. The Cinestudio,

Austin Arts Center, Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy, and Sambafest are all

institutions that constitute the community of Hartford. In other words, matriculating into

the Trinity Community inherently means matriculation into the Hartford Community.

While we are students here, we are all locals. There is no line to be drawn. Trinity IS

Hartford. And as such, we encourage the Trinity Community to find more sustainable

ways to better influence the safety of Trinity and Hartford.

The students who drafted this letter are hoping that the public recognizes that not all Trinity students support the policy of gating the campus.