They can be seen using the student center almost everyday – riding the elevators, making a lot of noise and taking up space in lines and in the seating areas. However, these student center patrons are not Northeastern students.
“I come here three to four times a week,” said Miguel Martinez, a junior at University High School, “It’s just a nice place to be; nobody to get in fights with. It’s just a chill area.”
But some students said they are not as “chill” with these outside students using Northeastern facilities.
“The university probably doesn’t mind them. If they shop at these restaurants, the school is making money off of them,” said Erik Maleck, a sophomore communications major. “But if you go to school here, and there are no clean tables and a bunch of high school students around, it’s a pain.”
The Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) and the student center staff are working on concerns raised by students about these outside visitors causing noise and overcrowding, said Associate Director of Public Safety James Ferrier. The NUPD receives an average of about “one call every week or so,” Ferrier said.
According to student center policy, casual visitors can use the services of the building, but once they are no longer purchasing or consuming food, they are asked to leave, said Bob Grier, director of student center operations.
Outside visitors from local high schools are often seen at the student center at two times during the day: between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., the lunch rush, and after 2 p.m. when school has let out, Ferrier said.
“I come here at least once a day around lunch time,” said Cesar Sanchez, a sophomore electrical and computer engineering major. “I see the kids, they can get loud and annoying.”
Ferrier attributed the influx of non-student visitors during lunch time to two local charter schools who are able to access the student center to eat lunch. The students are required to have proper identification and a faculty chaperone.
Northeastern works closely with the two charter schools to make sure the visitors are acting responsibly, including an officer liaison who meets with the headmasters of the schools, Ferrier said.
While there may not be officers stationed permanently in the student center, Ferrier said officers on the beat that includes the student center make it a point to stop in during the hectic lunchtime hours.
After school, Ferrier said, students traveling via the Ruggles T station find the Curry Student Center an ideal place to relax on their way home.
“The student center is a pleasant place for a lot of Boston high school students to hang out,” Ferrier said. “It’s a safe and pleasant place to be.”
However, some students say they are beginning to feel that the student center would be safer if these visitors were regulated.
“I think that it should be only [Northeastern] students allowed at the Curry Student Center,” said Kristina Knight, a middler finance major. “They should maybe initiate a key swipe thing like the library.”
Because of the multiple entrances to the student center, including afterHOURS, the bookstore and Ell Hall, Grier said he feels requiring swipe access to the student center isn’t feasible.
Also, the use of the building by the community for conferences as well as other workers on campus, such as contractors, who do not have IDs, makes it difficult to implement swipe access, Ferrier said.
If students notice these visitors acting inappropriately while in the student center, Grier said the most direct action is to call the NUPD, but students can also alert a building manager or go to his office in 328 Curry Student Center.
– Correspondents Elizabeth Dudek and Amanda Carswell contributed to this report.
