When students and faculty at the University of Southern California stepped foot on campus for the start of the 2024 fall semester, the excitement shared by Trojans, old and new, wasn’t the only experience they already had in common.
Upon their arrival to USC’s main campus, visitors encountered “welcome” tents of Allied Universal security guards and equipment to scan university IDs.
These increased security measures arose during the pro-Palestininan protests that took place at the university earlier this year. Conflict first arose after Valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who faced criticism from pro-Israel groups for her public support of Palestine, had her commencement speech canceled — a decision made by USC officials without detailing cited safety concerns.
Members of the USC community have begun to question what the cost of these increased security measures is and how it could impact them.
The president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) at the University of Southern California, Christina Dunbar-Hester, confirmed that faculty have not received any information regarding the price of these increased security measures, and are concerned about its financial implications, not just for staff, but also students.
“We worry what this security apparatus costs and what other possible expenditures that would benefit students, staff and faculty are being sacrificed to pay for it,” Dunbar-Hester said.
While the AAUP president could not confirm whether or not the cost of these increased security measures has impacted other budgets in any way, she shared that last spring, Bovard administrators notified the deans of individual schools that “fairly substantial budget-trimming” would be to come.
“Over time, this affects faculty and staff workloads, which can affect students’ learning and campus experience as well. Budget trimming also tends to invite worries about compensation, and whether annual raises will keep up with cost of living,” Dunbar-Hester said.
For her department, this meant postponing hires that were supposed to replace faculty members who had left or retired. She added that she believes many of the university’s departments have experienced hiring freezes for staff.
“Given the fiscal constraints USC is apparently already operating in, it does not seem remotely justified to spend a small fortune on security unless administrators can make a strong case as to its necessity, which they have not done,” she said.
When Allied Universal was first approached regarding their presence on campus and compensation for it, Director of Public Relations Kari Garcia said in an email, “Allied Universal is dedicated to the safety of our clients, their customers and the public. Due to client confidentiality terms outlined in our contract, we are unable to comment on the security services provided to keep university personnel, students and the public safe.”
According to USC’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) website, Allied Universal Security is serving as the new vendor for the school’s Security Ambassador Program, replacing the previous vendor, Contemporary Services Corporation (CPC).
DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said that a subdivision of CPC, Apex, previously provided guards that supplemented the university’s officers by staffing posts at access gates and select locations within the campus. While he was not able to provide information about Apex guards’ compensation, he did note that they were not currently being used.
However, Carlisle said that when it comes to Allied Universal Security, he estimates that between 85 and 100 of their guards are on campus between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. at a pay rate of $19.50 per hour. These numbers are reduced after hours when access to campus becomes more limited, with about 34 “Yellow Jacket” ambassadors taking over between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
With USC having funded both CPC and Allied Universal Security guards just in this last year on top of what the institution already allocates for DPS officials, some in the USC community have begun demanding more transparency into these changes and how they will affect them.
Although Carlisle has said he does not possess any information surrounding the university’s budgeting for the increased security measures, he said from what he’s aware of, these implemented changes will be enforced “indefinitely.”
Meanwhile, unionized graduate student workers at USC (GSWOC-UAW Local 872) gathered over 1,000 signatures this past summer for a petition sent to President Carol Folt, Provost Andrew Guzman, Vice President of Student Life Monique Allard and Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance Erroll Southers, calling on the administration to “eliminate the excessive security measures that have been in place since the Spring semester.”
The university did not provide a breakdown of how much money is being spent on these security measures nor comment on how it will impact USC’s budgeting in other areas. They directed us to the University Comptroller’s annual financial reports which provide any budgeting information that is publicly available.