BUZZ
Sororities leader says students didn’t learn about cameras until ‘weeks’ after installation
Several student leaders at Dartmouth College demanded that new security cameras be uninstalled from dormitories and Greek houses this week, claiming students were not notified and their privacy is not being respected.
The students’ demands came despite the campus Department of Safety and Security’s decision last week to pause the installation of more cameras, The Dartmouth reports.
“I do not consent to being recorded in my own home,” Kensington TeKrony, president of the Intersorority Council, wrote in an op-ed Thursday. “… Privacy means I choose what I share and with whom. No one asked if I was willing to give that up.”
TeKrony, a senior, said the campus sororities were not made aware of the cameras until an Oct. 6 meeting – “after installation had already begun weeks earlier without notice.”
Inter-Fraternity Council president Ian McKenna said much the same in an email to administrators last week, obtained by The Dartmouth. McKenna wrote that “no Greek council, chapter, house or student was notified or consulted” before the cameras were installed.
Mischa Telesford, a senior and president of the Gender-Inclusive Council, expressed similar concerns in another op-ed published Thursday in the student newspaper.
“The College claims the cameras will only overlook exit and entry points; thus far, however, cameras and camera mounts have been installed in living rooms, basements and interior hallways near bathrooms,” Telesford wrote.
The campus security director admitted that the college should have communicated better with students about the new cameras, The Dartmouth reported last week:
[On Oct. 8], Department of Safety and Security director Keiselim Montas wrote in an email to campus that Safety and Security has “currently paused” the installation of security cameras in all College-owned residential facilities, including Greek houses, while they “address student concerns and clarify the scope and timeline of the project.”
The department installed security cameras in Alpha Xi Delta and Kappa Kappa Gamma sororities over the summer, according to members of both. Contractors installed wiring and mounts for cameras in Chi Delta sorority and Epsilon Kappa Theta, a gender-inclusive house, on Oct. 6. Multiple leaders of Greek houses with College-owned physical houses told The Dartmouth that they received no notice before contractors began installing the cameras.
“There have been some missed opportunities for communication and information about this project — something that Campus Services, DoSS and the senior leadership team are working to remedy,” Montas wrote.
The new cameras are part of a larger security plan that the college created in 2022. The plan includes installing security cameras in areas within “every College-owned residence facility” where there is “no reasonable expectation of privacy,” according to the student newspaper.
The three student leaders urged the college to completely uninstall the cameras from campus dorms and Greek houses.
“Harm and violence will not dissipate. Violent behaviors will simply migrate outside of the cameras’ purview. The cameras are not here to keep us safe — they are here to surveil us,” Telesford wrote.
However, the situation is not unique to Dartmouth. Across the country, the installation of security cameras and license plate readers on college campuses have prompted a larger debate about the balance between privacy and safety.
Students also have complained about flock cameras at Penn State University and security cameras in dormitories at San Diego State University.
However, campus security leaders have said the cameras assist with crime investigations and help keep campuses safe. Some also point to campus shootings as reasons for the added security measures.
MORE: Big brother? College students weigh in on flock cameras
