The Republican National Convention came to Tampa, FL the week of Aug. 26 and spurred a great deal of changes for the University of Tampa. Campus Safety made quite a few adjustments for the sake of the students. To do so, there were a few things asked of us. A Spartan ID was necessary for an individual to be allowed on campus, and all staff and students were required to wear neon lanyards with IDs attached. I, as a new freshman at UT, was nervous about the RNC and grateful for the safety measures put in place.
At any point during the RNC, you could have been stopped if your lanyard was not visible. I admit, as a student, that it sometimes seemed like a hassle; perhaps wearing such a bright color around your neck wasn’t quite your style. Walking around campus, I noticed that most of the students were merely holding their lanyards or had them sticking out of their pockets. Despite their Spartan Cards not being easily visible, having the green lanyard dangling in clear view was enough to avoid being stopped.
Before the convention started, there were numerous emails sent out reminding students to wear their lanyards. Freshmen were told to attend one of three mandatory security sessions on Sunday, Aug. 26. During these assemblies, officers warned students to be on their guard, to not do anything reckless and reiterated that wearing the lanyards was required. Even so, it seems the one thing numerous students went out of their way to avoid was wearing those lanyards.
If stopped, all a student needed to do was present his or her lanyard and ID and they could be on their way. But why were students getting stopped? It happened repeatedly throughout the week. Considering the lanyards were bright green, and had your Spartan Card attached, they were nearly impossible to forget. There wasn’t much being asked of us, just to have our lanyards and IDs visible to the officers who were working diligently to protect UT students.
Campus Safety was very amiable, especially in the case of Tara Temkar, sophomore biology major. “I’m a commuter, but I’m not staying at my permanent address. So they sent my lanyard to my parents’ house when I was already in Florida, and I didn’t have it sent down.” She said that she was stopped and asked to present her lanyard and ID, but was allowed to move on after presenting her Spartan Card because the officers were flexible and understanding. Other students, ones that had lanyards in their possession, seemingly couldn’t be bothered to be flexible themselves – not even for one week.
Accommodations were also made for students interested in being a part of demonstrations. Students and student organizations intending to protest were asked to inform the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement. This insured that the university was aware of students’ whereabouts and had the necessary information to contact the organizations and relay safety information in case of an emergency.
I asked multiple students for their opinions on the security measures and whether or not they wore their lanyards. A few admitted to carrying them in bags and getting stopped for it. They believed the lanyard policy to be a hassle. Several students declared that they got away without wearing their lanyards, but refused give their names or be quoted. They were apprehensive about what would happen if their comments appeared in the paper. To avoid trouble, students should have cooperated and initially worn the lanyards. Five days was a short amount of time, and the policy was put in place for our sake.
Security worked hard to prepare for the RNC and to keep UT students out of harm’s way. Even though nothing terrible occurred to require as many officers on campus as there were, it was reassuring to know that security was prepared. As the saying goes: better safe than sorry. It is the preferred option. We should be grateful that the officers worked so hard this week and for the fact that nothing went out of control or directly threatened our campus or students.
Elaina Zintl can be reached at elaina.zintl@spartans.ut.edu