CSB+SJU hires new bus security

Bus monitors are nothing new for CSB+SJU students who ride the Link on late weekend nights, but new faces will be staffing the buses as monitors switch from Johnnies to professional security hired by the administration.

The newly hired company, Fairline Security Services, completed their first full weekends on duty the past two weeks.

Bus monitors have been needed on late-night weekend buses due to student behavior related to harassment and bullying, alcohol use and disorderly conduct.

“The purpose of having bus monitors is to ensure that the institutions are able to provide safe transportation between the campuses on weekend evenings for students and drivers,” CSB Dean of Students Jody Terhaar said via email.

For the past 25 years, bus monitor service on the Link has been provided primarily by private security companies contracted by CSB+SJU. However, no private security company was available for the past two years because of COVID, so SJU students served as bus monitors. These students were primarily SJU resident assistants, like SJU junior TJ Klinkner.

“This year, they made bus duty mandatory at first for RAs. There was nothing about it in our contracts; it was just sprung on us during training,” Klinkner said.

Klinkner said the original plan was to require that each SJU RA complete at least two paid bus monitor shifts a semester in addition to their typical RA duties. After the group criticized this new plan, the administration and Residential Life made the position completely optional for each individual until a different solution could be reached.

RAs who have worked a bus duty shift shared that the experience comes with mixed emotions. SJU junior and RA Antonio Thompson expressed the disappointment and frustration that came with the notion of bus duty, as well as concerns for personal safety while working a shift.

“Overall, it was a dreadful experience, to say the least. When you’re inside the bus, you’re in the mindset of trying to keep peace and try to make things as smooth as possible,” Thompson said. “I’m already an RA, so I really have to deal with a lot of people, and then I had to be on the bus late at night. It’s just a lot of responsibility to be put onto a student.”

Thompson said his role as bus monitor involved responding to student behavior and safety issues so the driver can focus on driving and the students can stay safe while riding the bus.

“In those moments, it’s more about keeping that peace and trying to keep people calm but also looking out for the bus drivers because, you know, we need them here. They’re a part of our school culture. It’s also about looking out for the Bennies, making sure they are OK and comfortable, as well as students who aren’t under the influence,” Thompson said.

The switch back to using a private company for bus monitoring has garnered overall positive reactions. RAs that have served this optional bus duty, like Klinkner and Thompson, share this gratitude for having the responsibility taken off them and given to those more trained and prepared for what may occur on the late-night buses.

“I understand why the school picked us to be the initial bus monitors, and I was OK with that. But at the end of the day, who really should be dealing with drunk people or being the ones to stand up against our own peers?” Thompson said. “Large responsibilities like that should never really fall on any student; that should be more of an institutional thing. That’s why I’m OK with the new bus monitors.”

Klinkner also emphasized that RAs should be focused on the other ways they contribute to community health and safety rather than working as bus monitors, so the eventual switch to a private security staff made sense.

“It’s important for RAs to be leaders on campus and to work together, but I just don’t think bus security was the right position to do that in,” Klinkner said.

CSB+SJU’s goals for this security company are the same as they have consistently had: to provide safe transportation between the campuses on late-night weekend evenings for students, drivers and bus monitors and to prevent and address unsafe behavior.

Terhaar mentioned that she hopes the new monitors will be able to address issues that student bus monitors may not have been equipped to handle.

“We appreciate and thank the SJU RAs for their work serving as bus monitors. The RAs and other students who served in these roles were not always respected when they tried to address disruptive behaviors and did not always feel comfortable confronting peers in some situations,” Terhaar said.

Administration notes that no matter who is stationed on the bus, students should be aware and responsible for their behaviors on late-night weekend buses to ensure the future safety and community of CSB+SJU and to avoid repercussions.

“Students who are documented and found responsible for disruptive behavior, such as yelling, harassing others, throwing up, etc., may be fined and lose the privilege of riding the buses,” Terhaar said.