For the outgoing Grinnell student, a trip to Harris is usually penciled into the weekend agenda, as a place to relax and have fun. But for ACE security student workers, Harris parties present a challenge to maintain order while not policing their peers. By having student security, parties like Harris can maintain a relaxed atmosphere that might not be possible if Campus Security patrolled the event.
Emphasizing this point are ACE Security workers' uniforms. With a simple black shirt that has "security" written on the back, many students might not even notice that the workers are not partying.
"I think that the less uniform we wear, the less of a presence we make, and that is always our goal," said Ben Howort '09, one of the ACE directors. "We are not policing people."
While student-security does not want to police, they are still the ones to maintain order when things get out of hand, and sometimes the uniforms don't help them. "People don't realize that you're security right away," Howort said, "so I've just had people hit me when I'm trying to break up a fight."
Diffusing situations can be difficult, but many security workers try to ease situation before it gets worse. "I can only think of one time last year when we actually had to call campus security," said Head of ACE Security Veronqiue Porter '08 in a Nov. interview. "It hasn't escalated to larger things in a while."
ACE Security tries to settle disputes at an event without calling campus security if possible. But this strategy puts the burden on the student workers, a tough job.
"Most of the time, when ACE steps in to try to diffuse the situations, they incur the assault," Porter said in November. "It's not like it happens a lot, but we've definitely had spitters, people throw beer, occasionally the assault."
Because of such risks, security must remain focused on the task at hand, and cannot take part in the pleasures of Harris.
"You do make a sacrifice, you can't drink, and you can't party. You have to work," said Porter. When security must step in, a level headed is a must. "We want people that are assertive but not angry," said Porter.
But for her, the job represents more than just breaking up drunks at Harris. By working security, she is taking an active role in caring for the college community--self-governance in action.
ACE security allows students monitor other students, making safety and security a primarily student affair.
Vanessa Taylor, RLC for Jamaland, emphasized the role of security with regard to self governance. "I haven't heard of any problems in regards to ACE and I know that they have been very understanding," she said.
Howort agreed that ACE security is a big part of self-governance.
"We want to keep security low-tech because our job is to be in the corners. We don't need battalions or tazers," he said. "We are there to keep the people safe and enforce the very few rules we have employed that help us keep people safe."
