News
Late Night Jitney debated at Student Assembly meeting on Monday
By Dillon Kelly ’18
October 8, 2015
On Monday night, Student Assembly met to discuss a number of issues concerning the student body at Hamilton. However, as students began to file in before the meeting began, it was clear that all those present were anticipating the evening’s discussion of the Late Night Jitney. At 9:00 exactly, upwards of ten students filed in as a unified group and positioned themselves in the corner of the Sadove Conference Room. This group was comprised of student officials who either worked for the Jitney Service or Event Staff. They were ready to express their frustrations about the service and make it clear that change was necessary.
The discussion of the Jitney began about 15 minutes into the meeting. Silvia Radulescu ’17, Student Assembly vice president, began the discussion by presenting results from a survey that was given to the ride alongs about their experiences on the Late Night Jitney. The results stated that 54 percent of the ride alongs had at one time felt threatened, further saying they encountered violence, aggressive behavior, the unpredictable nature of intoxicated people, threats and derogatory language.
Steve Gross ’16, co-head of Event Staff, went on to explain the current policy for dealing with and reprimanding students, while also expressing his discontent with the three-strike policy proposed at the previous meeting. Gross stated, “current policy is that if there is something that needs to be confronted, ride alongs can ask for identification. Ride alongs are college officials, so people are required to comply when they ask for ID.” If the ride along does not get this information, they can access the cameras on the buses, and if the incident is bad enough Campus Safety is contacted. All other names are sent to Director for Student Engagement & Leadership Noelle Niznik, whose primary goal is documenting instances to see if there are repeated offences.
After explaining the details of Jitney policy, the conversation became more emotionally fueled, with the Jitney organizers and ride alongs expressing their frustrations. Gabe Rivas ’16, co-organizer of the Jitney, stated his hope of creating a campaign to make students aware of the procedures. Rivas went on to say, “the issue is that ride alongs don’t get the respect they deserve. Ride alongs are college officials, so if students don’t comply with requests, that can warrant a report.” Jeanette Parra ’16, the other co-organizer, went on to emphasize how the Late Night Jitney is a privilege. She elaborated, “the ride along staff is not recognized and they do not get the respect they deserve. The staff is not obligated to keep it running.”
Catherine Conroy ’17, representative for the class of 2017, asked how many ride that accompany a jitney trip, which incited a lot of discussion. Rivas stated, “there used to be a Campus Safety officer, but that costs a lot of money. When Campus Safety left, things got harder.” Niznik continued, explaining that no officers offered to ride the Late Night Jitney this semester, proving that the pay isn’t worth it to deal with the behavior of certain students. Rivas summarized the staff’s sentiments, saying, “it speaks volumes that even people who would be paid overtime aren’t willing to ride along.”
When Student Assembly President Andrew Fischer ’17 asked how the ride alongs would rate this year so far, the staff stated that this year has certainly been an improvement over past years but not by much. Parra attributes this slight improvement to the evolving social culture of the school. Nathalia Mahabir ’17, a ride along, argued that the school shouldn’t be content with this progress, stating, “just because behavior has gotten better does not mean that behavior is OK. Going from terrible to bad is still not good.”
While the discussion between the representatives of Student Assembly and those of the Jitney was certainly an important one, there was not really a true resolution of the issue, and perhaps there is not really one. With that said, Student Assembly did respond well to the ride alongs’ desires to have them spread the word concerning issues on the Late Night Jitney. If there is a takeaway from this meeting, however, it is this: All the ride alongs want is to be treated with the respect they deserve as both students and college officials.