Even with a relatively low number of vandalism incidents at Washington College, its threat to campus-wide safety is still a concern, according to Director of Public Safety Jerry Roderick.
Since Aug. 21, there have been 21 incidents of Malicious Destruction of Property (MDOP), according to Public Safety. Roderick said most incidents of vandalism this year have been in or around resident halls. “Some years stealing signs is popular, some years kicking cars is popular, and this year it seems to be the residence halls,” said Roderick.
“When people start damaging, say, exit signs, they’re removing devices that were installed to save people’s lives,” said Roderick. “This ties up a lot of our maintenance resources: a lot of hours are spent fixing those things. It also takes up a lot of the college’s money.”
“In other buildings we’re seeing windows and windows in doors being knocked out, and again it’s jeopardizing the safety of others,” said Roderick.
“It’s senseless, immature acts. Most upperclassmen do get really frustrated with it. Last year, in Chester and Sassafras dorms, the frustration was really high with the vandalism in brand new buildings,” said Roderick, citing the closing of the elevators in the two new dorms due to continual vandalism.
Reid Raudenbush, Director of the Physical Plant, sees the threat to safety as the biggest concern.
“There are two points about damage at WC, one is that it is minimal, so minimal that when it does happen it’s such a big deal. I’ve worked at a lot of places, and here at WC, this group of students has probably been the best I’ve seen. However, the little bit of damage is of the type that gets me upset,” said Raudenbush.
Raudenbush said it is not so much the cost of repairing or replacing damaged items that is bothersome, but more the fact that the damage threatens students’ safety.
“These things do have price tags attached to them, but for me it’s more about students’ potential exposure,” he said.
He went on to cite incidents where students have damaged exit signs, fire extinguishers, and emergency lights.
“It doesn’t cause a lot of damage, but for the period of time that they are damaged, they leave that floor vulnerable,” said Raudenbush. “It’s the particular damage of the safety stuff that gets me upset: minor but troubling.”
“There have been four room fires in the 20 years that I’ve been here. They’re scary, and you rely on the fire extinguisher as the first line of defense,” said Raudenbush. Raudenbush said students tend to tamper with the fire extinguishers.
“Fire extinguishers seem to attract people on Saturday nights. I guess they present tempting targets. I actually think it’s not conscious. I think if they would think about what they’re doing, they wouldn’t do it,” said Raudenbush.
“I’m probably directing this message at only three people, but students are being put at increased risk, and that’s just not necessary. We do things to try to minimize the risk, and I just think it’s particularly egregious when these things become the target,” said Raudenbush.
Roderick said some students’ lack of connection with the school makes them think they can destroy things. “You wouldn’t do that in your own home,” said Roderick.
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