During the Uber ride to my hotel, my driver went over some of the security that was being put in place for the Republican National Convention. He said that officers were being brought in from all over the world to lend a hand, that the National Guard would be stationed in some areas, and that about 2,000 officers were being housed at nearby Case Western Reserve University. I didn’t recognize the name of the college, but I remembered reading about a local college in Ohio where some students were unhappy about the “police state” coming to campus.
Even though there is virtually nothing at school during the week of the convention, students did not refrain from sending a petition to the school administration to express their concerns and worries about the police.
Yes: Some people are concerned about the safety of students because Police are nearby. Of course, Campus Reform had a post about madness:
Students have started a Change.org petition asking for the safety of students during the stay of 1,900 police and National Guard soldiers at CWRU and to limit the powers of officers during their stay. The petition had collected only 360 signatures at the time of going to press, out of a target of 500.
[…]
Taru Taylor, a law student and co-author of the petition, said the university is putting the concerns of guest police officers ahead of those of students.
“The primary concern is the safety of the campus community,” Taylor said, citing incidents of police misconduct. “And then there’s the sense that the university should be a community of scholarship, a haven from the police state.”
Petition supporter and CWRU alumnus Shannon Groll wrote in a comment that she was concerned about students being on campus at the same time as police.
“As a CWRU graduate, I have come to rely on my identity on campus to feel safe,” Groll writes. “I am terrified and concerned for students of color, queer* and trans* students, and all members of the university community who are at the mercy of an arbitrarily expanded police force without clear oversight or community attachment. Please protect CWRU as a safe space for all bodies.”
Supporter Keith Fitch hopes CWRU has the best intentions for students.
“I am deeply concerned about the presence — even temporarily — of militarized police on the CWRU campus,” Fitch said in his op-ed. “The highest priority of an educational institution is to provide a safe environment for students, faculty, and staff. The considerations required are the bare minimum that the university should provide to the CWRU community.”
Kids, grow up. These conventions need to have a lot of security, and the police need somewhere to stay. It’s only for a week. It’s not the end of the world, and these law enforcement officers don’t have time, let alone the will, to harass the whiny, grumpy burgerheads that are the millennial generation at Case Western. They’re here to provide security for a major political party convention. They’re dealing with grave security issues… in the real world.
