Students at the Roxbury charter high school City on a Hill have been suspended indefinitely from the Curry Student Center following reports of disruptive behavior, school executive director Michael Duffy said this week.
The suspension followed direct action by Duffy and other City on a Hill administration against two students for their involvement in incidents at the student center this past spring and summer.
One student was suspended, while the other was expelled from the school.
The school’s administration then told the school’s student body they would not be allowed in the student center until they proved they “should be allowed to have that responsibility,” Duffy said.
Murmurings of complaints about high school students at the student center have gone on for close to a year, with Northeastern students claiming their study space had been encroached upon by the adolescents.
“Sometimes students come with their teachers, and they’re still loud,” said junior psychology major Gayle McKinney, who said the students are “the only reason” she no longer studies in the student center. “Some things should be open to the public, but we spend thousands of dollars to go here, so we should still have a safe place to go.”
For others, though, the students haven’t posed a problem.
“I think it’s a good thing to let them be here,” said senior marketing major Albie DiBenedetto. “I’ve never witnessed anything bad from them.”
After a number of incidents, however, including a theft from one of the student center restaurants, vandalism and harassment, university administration began to rethink their policy toward allowing high school students inside the building to congregate and grab a bite to eat.
Spurred by the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Vice President for Student Services Rogan O’Handley, three meetings were held over the summer involving university community relations officials, campus police, principals from the high schools whose students use the Student Center, Student Center administration and members of SGA.
O’Handley said the dialogue at the meetings was mainly focused around allowing the high school students to use the facilities without being disruptive.
“The Curry Student Center is a crossroads of community life, and [high school students] are our guests,” he said. “We want to have the community involved, but we expect behavior conducive to the culture of the student center.”
He said the meetings also helped to define what the high schoolers can and cannot do at the student center.
“They get to witness a bit of college life. It’s a place where they can gather, but this isn’t supposed to be a hangout,” O’Handley said. “It’s not their cafeteria.”
Although the City on a Hill students have had their access to the student center revoked, students will also have the chance to regain their right to use the building.
Duffy said the school’s senior class would have to prove to City on a Hill administration they are responsible enough to have access to the student center. Then, they would have to make a proposal to SGA to negotiate their usage.
After that agreement is reached, they would have to take orientation classes with the Northeastern Police Department that would illuminate proper behavior guidelines.
Despite the tall order, Duffy said the punishment was a reaction the students had brought upon themselves.
“We have high expectations for our students,” Duffy said. “They really like to use the student center, but they have to prove that they should be allowed to have that responsibility.”
Meanwhile, students from other area high schools, including the Health Careers Academy in the Fenway, will have continued access to the student center, though those students will also have to undergo the orientation process, O’Handley said.
The group’s next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 17, will determine what will be covered at the orientation sessions.
