EMU security: Not an easy job

Photo by Sarah Dick

Security Guard Christopher Ruble stopped by to check on the Weather Vane office Monday night. He shared his hobby of scenic photography with staff members.

Most students seem to think the security guards are out to get them or are simply being disrespectful. However, the guards are merely following protocol and doing their job.

From 1917, when this campus was first founded, until eight years ago, EMU did not have campus security. This means EMU had been without security for over 85 years. Even though faculty and students see the four security guards patrolling each night and weekend, the guards do not work directly for EMU. Central Security, one of two security contractors in Harrisonburg, was hired by the university to provide security for the campus.

After working 40 hours, including 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. and every weekend, site supervisor Barbara Pydo knows that she will receive no benefits for her hard and tiresome work. Central Security is a temporary agency, hiring employees with the knowledge that they will receive no medical, dental, or retirement packages.

Although EMU normally contracts five guards, it currently employs four. Pydo said, "It's hard to get good long-term employees working for a temp agency."

Finding security guards willing to work at EMU is difficult for several reasons. First, the night and weekend hours are not the most desirable, considering the amount of pay and lack of benefits the employees receive. Second, the employees have to abide by the ethics and morals EMU stands for as a Christian university.

Pydo also believes it is hard to find good employees because most applicants expect an easy job. They believe they can come in, sit, and get paid. However, she says this job is "very detailed and very difficult," not what most people would want to do.

When students were asked what the goal for campus security was, there were several opinions. Some students thought it was to make a safer community. Others thought it was a way for the campus to have someone boss them around and prohibit students from having fun. Other students think the security guards' priority is that everyone is where they are supposed to be. Junior Katie Cockley says, "It's a good idea to have security, but ours don't make me feel any safer."

Junior Lisa Berry believes the guards have an attitude where they think students are trying to be in the wrong place or get away with things. However, she also thinks there are some guards who respect the students because they are here to learn. Overall though, Berry says, "They lock the doors and shut things down, but I don't really hear of them protecting anyone or anything."

One clash between students and protocol occurred last spring during an intramural volleyball game. As the students were in the middle of their final championship game, the lights were suddenly cut off. There was no explanation, no pre-warning: they were just turned off. When the students finally saw the security guard on duty, they asked if the lights could be turned back on.

The guard refused and said it was protocol. The students were left and continued to play their final game in the dark. Senior Liz Hagey, one of the spectators at the game, says "I thought it was really rude and un-cool of the security guard to just turn the lights off on us like that. They were in the middle of their championship game and it was almost over. She had no right."

Hagey is not alone in her sentiments. The majority of students interviewed feel insulted and treated like children by the guards, or they feel like they never see the security enough to comment. One student says, "Security isn't and doesn't seem like a big priority for our campus. The security guards act like they have huge authority, but really they should just be more laid back."

Dealing with pranks and having to kick students out of places they are not supposed to be are two of the many difficulties security guards must deal with. An average week day for security starts at 4 p.m. With only one guard working per shift, they stay on duty until 8 a.m. On weekends the same number of guards per shift applies, with twenty-four hour coverage.

With only one golf cart and one vehicle, for the winter months, the guards are seen frequently patrolling and shutting down the various buildings on campus. Each building is given its own schedule for shut down. The buildings hours are based on high-usage and protection of equipment located in them.

These regulation hours are determined by the EMU staff, not by campus security. Therefore, security follows the day-to-day schedule that they are given by EMU. They are told to make no exceptions to the lock down hours given, unless they receive a phone call, email, or if it is an emergency.

Many of the students recognize the site supervisor they see frequently around campus as the dark, curly-haired woman with a flashlight and keys. However, there is a person behind the uniform. That person is site supervisor Pydo, who is training to be a private investigator.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and working in retail, medical, industrial, and education arenas, she says, "I finally received my calling from the Lord to work in law enforcement." She is slowly working her way up to become a licensed private investigator and to one day enter law school. She says all her past experiences, including working as a security guard at EMU, are simply "the making of a private investigator."

When Pydo is not on campus she involves herself in worship and prayer, because she is a born-again Christian. "My time off is my salvation," she says. Pydo also enjoys snow-mobiling and skiing. However, her most rewarding hobby is working alongside an adoption agency since 1997 raising cats out of the wild. She houses and takes care of cats until they are able to be adopted by other families, or even become a part of her own home.