The Quinnipiac Young Americans for Liberty would like to give voice to a thought that has been wondered by many a Quinnipiac student. What exactly is the purpose of Quinnipiac security?

According to the student handbook, “The mission of the security department is to provide protection for the University community,” but security’s actions frequently run counter to this stated goal. More emphasis often seems to be put on regulating students and violating their privacy than on protecting them.

This past Saturday morning, as reported in The Chronicle, several Quinnipiac students were roused from their slumber by security, and in the ensuing chaos, both a security guard and a student were reportedly injured. What threat did these sleeping students pose to their classmates? Certainly less than the threat that security posed to them.

While we acknowledge that it appears that these students did break the law and violate school policy, the security forces at Quinnipiac are limited, and to take officers away from the general defense of the campus for the purpose of tearing apart some poor student’s room is inexcusable.

When as weak a reason as smelling marijuana in the hall can be given as justification for security to tear apart a room, who among us is safe? Which Quinnipiac student does not have anything in their dorms on a Friday night that violates school policy? These unfortunate students were the victims this time, but next time it could be any of you.

There has been much talk recently about increased security, especially at the York Hill campus. While we agree that more security is necessary to keep students safe, more important is a shift in priorities among the current members of security.

Toward that end, we support the effort to draft a Declaration of Student Rights to present to the administration. This document could be used to tell the administration that, among other things, security’s main goal should be to protect students, not police them.

Students interested in assisting us towards this goal can reach us at [email protected] or via Facebook.

We simply ask that Quinnipiac security focus on keeping students safe, not attacking them in the dead of night while they sleep.

-Quinnipiac Young Americans for Liberty