In addition to the “wild and crazy” aura that prevailed during Serendipity, there was also a militant and “watch where you step” attitude among the Greensboro Police that were hired.
According to Webster serendipity means “an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.” Unfortunately, the biggest discovery I made during Serendipity was the opposite of desirable. I realized (probably should have known) that Guilford students are not trusted. The presence of the Greensboro police was overwhelming. Clearly we are not responsible enough to enjoy a typical spring college celebration, so we are supervised like first-graders on the playground.
Even though this was my first Serendipity, I feel confident from my discussions with upperclass-people that the role of the officers hired this year was different than in previous years.

Maya Burlingame, a junior, said, “my freshmen year they were here for safety; this year they were actually enforcing rules.”
Many of those rules were extreme and senseless; rules that they “do not normally enforce,” as Lizzie Gillespie, a sophomore, put it.

I know dozens of people who were forced to empty their water bottles (god forbid should we have water with us). This was strictly enforced at the Bryan dance, but many people at the apartments party and the carnival were also forced to dispose of their water.

I realize the school has to hire police and make sure all of the students are safe. However, it felt like a zoo, not because the campus was wild with out-of-control college kids. It felt like a zoo because the officers impertinently stared at us. We might as well have been in a cage with bananas hitting our chest and smiling at their cameras.

Dawn Watkins, associate dean of student life for community activities, said that Guilford has to hire the Greensboro police for liability reasons. She also said that, “the number of police hired this year was exactly the same as last year and the year before that.”

The college understandably prepares for the festivities by hiring Greensboro police. However, what is open for debate is their position and role. Are they here to enforce ridiculous rules we’ve never heard of, watch over us like hungry hawks, and make us throw out any drink we might have? Or are they here to make sure we are safe and do not entirely lose control?

What is hard for me to accept is the way we were monitored at the Bryan dance and the apartments party. There is a clear distinction between making sure we are safe and don’t get out of hand and assuming we are all drunk trouble-makers seeking havoc.

It is unfortunate that Guilford acted so defensive and suspicious during Serendipity. It fosters an attitude of “us against them” rather than the community atmosphere that we so pride ourselves on.