It has been one year since USC installed gates around the campus perimeter, but student sentiment toward the increased security has remained largely unchanged.
The gates were built after a series of pro-Palestinian protests and encampments that took place on campus last April. Initially, USC said the goal was to limit the presence of unauthorized individuals on campus.
The gate at the McClintock entrance has since been permanently installed — fully enclosing the university to the public at every possible entrypoint.
Five months later, students have continued to question the effectiveness of the gates and the overall impact of USC’s security checkpoints on student life and the surrounding community.
Rafael Andrade, a senior studying business administration, criticized the long-term implementation of these gates.
“I thought it was a short-term response, and I didn’t think it would extend out to a year,” Andrade said. “There are already gates that block the entire campus outside from the city that it resides in.”
Andrade also said he felt the gates ostracized the surrounding community, remarking that he remembered when families and children used to play in McCarthy Quad, enjoying the communal space.
“When locals that have lived and grown up in this area see the security up front, they stop and are hesitant to move forward,” Andrade said. “It just created another layer of separation for the institution, and I don’t think it’s a good one.”
Since the university has transitioned to an enclosed atmosphere, some students said they felt it had made the campus safer.
Madison Lamont, a sophomore studying sociology, said the gates have made her feel safer, but that they were no longer necessary and diminish the communal atmosphere.
“I feel like we just had a lot more sense of community, and now you see people have no other option but to go to class or sit somewhere,” Lamont said. “Let people be on their own campus.”
However, Kyle Pan, a senior majoring in Urban Studies and planning, said he found the checkpoints effective, especially after his scooter was stolen before the gates were installed.
“After the checkpoints were set up, my scooter never got stolen,” Pan said. “But it also brought an inconvenience; if I’m rushing to go to class, I have to stop and scan my ID.”
Pan also said the checkpoints were inconvenient when inviting non-USC students on campus.
“At the beginning, you have to send an invitation to get them in,” Pan said. “I think that’s strict.”
Cai Shotwell, a junior studying public relations and advertising, expressed strong opposition to the gate installations, citing increased inconvenience and budget misallocation.
“What made this campus so great was it being open all the time and having easy access [of not having to tap your ID],” Shotwell said. “When I’m rushing, the last thing I want to do is stop to tap my ID with 50 other people. There should be a seamless process to get onto campus.”
Shotwell is also an employee at the university and works for USC Housing. He said he felt, as a student worker, that the university was overspending on security.
“I don’t find it necessary to be using so much of our budget for security,” he said. “A lot of money is spent monthly on this. It’s affecting employee benefits, tuition costs, and it’s all connected to the gates.”
Although it has been argued that campus security has created a safer environment, most students said the openness of campus was a key aspect of campus life, and the new security measures were excessive and no longer necessary.
“What does the gate stop if a coyote came into this campus,” Shotwell said. “Anybody else could, and nobody would stop them.”