As hundreds of parents arrived on campus for Northeastern’s Family & Friends Weekend Oct. 25, news about the alleged activities in relation to prostitution in Northeastern’s Mugar Life Sciences Building circulated in local media headlines.

Local media outlets including The Boston Globe, Boston 25 News, Channel 7 News, NBC10 Boston and WBZ-TV have covered what Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Madigan called activities “in relation to prostitution” in bathrooms in Mugar since The News initially reported on it Oct. 23. The news also made the Boston Herald’s front page Oct. 25. The school has not sent out a statement to the Boston campus community about security concerns. 

In an email Oct. 16, before Madigan’s clarification that the security concerns were in relation to prostitution, a Northeastern spokesperson wrote that “based on security concerns raised by faculty, students and staff, the university implemented enhanced access requirements inside Mugar Hall, including Husky ID reader locks for the main bathrooms.” 

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu took questions from the press about the incidents in Mugar at the Boston Fire Department Cadets pinning ceremony Oct. 25. 

“Everywhere in our city, people need to be safe and need to know that illegal activity will not be tolerated, but especially when it comes to spaces that our students and young people are in,” Wu said.  

In the days following The News’ initial report on locks being added to bathrooms in Mugar, community members have expressed concern about the lack of communication about the issue from the university. 

To Mikayla Horton, a first-year political science and economics double major, the lack of direct communication was worrying. 

“I think them hiding … it kind of makes them cowards,” Horton said. “I feel like they should tell us. I don’t see the reason for hiding it.” 

Mugar is located next to two residence halls: Hastings Hall and East Village. East Village resident Jenna Brower, a first-year chemistry major, said she is still unsure of what to think. 

“I had no idea that was going on, and I still don’t really know exactly what was going on,” Brower said. “So the university should provide a statement to kind of clear things up, especially for something that’s so close in proximity to students, especially first-year students that are all living [here] right now.”

Her mother, Sandi Brower, was in town for Family & Friends Weekend. Sandi Brower said that the close proximity of the reported illegal activity to her daughter’s residence hall makes her concerned for her daughter’s safety. 

“She’s walking to class and she’s not always with somebody,” she said, adding that she would like a statement from the school detailing the action that will be taken. “You’re on your campus. You should feel safe, and knowing exactly what’s going on would be important to know.”

Other parents shared that sentiment. Dennis Barker, whose son is a second-year journalism and interaction design combined major, said he learned about the illegal activity when a parent posted a link to an article on a group Facebook page for Northeastern parents. 

“There should be more communication in general, whether it goes out to the students, the parents, or something [so] the community [is] aware [and] that we know what’s going on,” Barker said.  

Barker, a graduate of Northeastern’s Class of 1996, said the campus looked different when he was a student than it does today.

“This area was much different and probably less safe back then, but still, there are still safety concerns at the top of my mind from when I went here,” he said. 

Others said the lack of communication may cause parents to hesitate before sending their child to the university. 

“I think they’re going to lose students,” said Hector Rivera, whose daughter is a third-year chemistry major. “I think concerned parents are gonna be like, ‘No, I’m not sending my child there.’” 

Northeastern released its 2024 annual security report Oct. 1, which found that overall crime on the Boston campus has decreased over the last year. There have been 18 reported incidents in Mugar from January through Oct. 28 — 13 have been related to lewdness, trespassing, loitering or suspicious activity. 

The News initially reported that eight incidents related to lewdness, trespassing, loitering or suspicious activity had taken place in Mugar in May and June. The updated count includes instances of police response to Mugar since January and adds instances of NUPD investigating the premises. 

In September, back-to-back incidents of attempted robberies on and near campus sparked the Northeastern University Police Department to send campus-wide safety alerts, at least one of which was sent out more than 12 hours after the incident occurred. Marianna Kelly, a third-year health science major, said while there are bound to be safety incidents in cities, communication is important. 

“There needs to be trust between the students and the university,” Kelly said. “It’s awful what the rumors are, but it’s good that they need to do something about it now.” But Kelly said she’s still hesitant to trust the university to communicate about safety concerns. 

“They need to be better [at] communicating with the students because I feel like I never know what’s going on,” Kelly said.