It’s pretty easy to just go in a dorm and take a mattress if you need it,” said a student who asked to remain anonymous. According to many students, minor criminal acts on campus are justified.
However, members of the Guilford staff have a different perspective. Theft significantly drains time and resources.
Between Aug. 15 – 31, the college experienced a rash of thefts. “In some ways, this has been the worst year ever,” said Nancy Semones, Director of Conferences and Events. “We replaced a mattress eight times in one room in a ten-day period.”
That is an expense of $800, more than half the cost of the unlimited meal plan-all for one bed.
While one mattress costs $100, multiple thefts by different people cost Guilford thousands of dollars yearly (exact figures pending an official report by Public Safety).
“Guilford is not so affluent that it
doesn’t matter when we lose several thousand dollars worth of furniture or equipment,” said Semones.
For some students, less costly thefts are ethically acceptable. “I do feel kind of bad, but I make sure I take things that aren’t going to harm too much,” said the anonymous student.
And there are varying degrees of theft on campus. The $40,000 worth of equipment stolen from Bryan Jr. auditorium last summer is far more costly than the expense of replacing over 30 new tables and chairs, such as those that were removed from King hall in one day this year.
However, even these less severe thefts have a tangible impact on the student body. Semones is forced to delay replacing little things like ping-pong balls and larger items like furniture in dorm lounges due to the expense of restoring stolen furniture.
The problem goes beyond students and money.
“It’s not the administration you are punishing, it’s the people who are doing their menial labor jobs,” said employee and former student Jack Hilley, scene shop foreman.
“When you have to scrounge to find equipment or tables because so many have gone missing, it really effects your job,” Hilley said.
According to Reggie Hayes, Director of Public Safety, acts of theft distracts Public Saftey from enacting their primary goal of serving and protecting the students.
“If students can stay within the rules, we can devote more energy to patrolling,” Hayes said.
Theft, which Hayes called “the number one issue that colleges face,” causes Semones, “menial workers” like Hilley, and Public Safety officers to divert resources from their jobs to cover the problem. These resources would otherwise be spent in service of the student body.
However, such appeals may still fall flat to the most common argument posed by students. After all, “I pay a [lot] of money to go here,” said the anonymous student.z Editor’s note: Next week’s follow-up article details how Public Safety perceives itself and Reginald Hayes’s hopes to improve relations with students.