CSA club lockers in the UC broken into
The second floor of the University Centre (UC), which houses the CSA (Central Student Association) locker storage room, seems to have been a topic of controversy for the past few years. One hallway on this floor used to be solely club room space, but was renovated a year ago and now has meeting rooms that clubs can sign out and a new multi-use space. Last year there were no disturbances, but in 2017, when the hallway renovation was proposed, people were upset that club space was taken and the club lockers were vandalized that year.
Jack Fisher, CSA president, does not believe the vandalism and the theft are related since there is a year between incidents.
The lockers have been broken into twice since the fall 2018 semester started. The first incident was on Saturday, Sept. 9 after Orientation Week and the second was this past Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Mars Chester Chow — a student, member of the Electronics Gaming Organization (EGO), and a contributor to The Ontarion — believes these break-ins were premeditated. He mentioned that one EGO member had video games stolen during one of the break-ins, which would require the exact known location for that club’s specific lockers.
“I would suspect that it was someone who has used those lockers or someone who has been around the lockers and area a lot to be the one to actually pull off a stunt like this,” Chow told The Ontarion.
The clubs who had their lockers broken into on Sept. 18 have talked to Campus Community Police (CCP) and recorded what was in the lockers, and as far as they know, no one has spotted anything missing.
Fisher figures whoever broke into the lockers on Sept. 18 was searching for petty cash.
The CCP told The Ontarion that they cannot comment on the report due to confidentiality reasons, but they did confirm that the investigation is ongoing.
Fisher said the CSA spoke to the university about the possibility of installing cameras in the hallway, but this would be an additional charge.
Fisher also said the CSA has come up with an alternative strategy to prevent this from happening again.
“[We] will be replacing all the affected locks and we are going to be installing a garage door over the entrance to that locker space. It will be locked at the same time as all the rooms in the hallway,” Fisher said in an interview with The Ontarion.
Currently, the UC staff locks, secures, and checks all of the doors in that hallway at 11 p.m., and this garage door will be one more door to check.
Club members who need access to the lockers during the times they will be locked can borrow a key from the CSA office.
If anyone has any information about this or other incidents please contact their non-emergency number at 519-824-4120 extension 52245.
Photo by Alora Griffiths/ The Ontarion