Baldwin Hall recently installed a security camera inside its communal laundry room on the first floor, making it the only residential building on campus to have security footage on the inside.
The camera was installed in early October after a series of ongoing incidents involving vandalism and damage to students’ property took place inside of the first-year building, particularly in the laundry rooms, according to Dean for Student Life Trae Yeckley.
“Baldwin, being our historic first-year building, there’s always issues with regards to students learning how to live in community and students learning how to do things on their own for the first time,” Yeckley said.
Baldwin Hall can hold up to 220 first-year students. This year, it is near maximum capacity.
“This particular year we’ve seen an increase of vandalism and damages in Baldwin, not just in the laundry room, but throughout the building,” Yeckley said. “We’ve tried other methods to try to get students to understand the impact they’re having on the community when they damage things, and we weren’t seeing a decrease in vandalism. And so the decision was made and now we can hold the appropriate students accountable.”
The camera installed shows a view of the entire laundry room and its machines. Its feed is streamed directly into Public Safety. It’s not permanently up on a screen, nor constantly monitored, and so the only time that camera footage is accessed is if something has gone wrong in the laundry room, according to Yeckley.
Baldwin Resident Advisor Nigel Williams, ’25, said that the RAs had been notified of multiple accounts of theft in the laundry room. As a result, they understood the necessity of the camera.
“As far as we were concerned, everyone was ‘iffy’ about it, but we understood it was a necessary thing, just as a precaution,” Williams said. “It was more of a preventative thing to make sure people weren’t continuously stealing stuff from the laundry room.”
This is Williams’ second year as an RA in Baldwin.
“I was kinda ‘iffy’ about it because I was like, ‘I don’t know how comfortable certain people are going to be about having it in there,’” Williams said. “But at the same time, I do understand.”
During an August interview with The Campus about a $150,000 grant Allegheny received to improve security on campus, Director of Public Safety James Basinger said college officials are very deliberate with the placement of cameras. He added that they are careful not to put them anywhere that compromises the privacy of students.
Yeckley said they and Basinger had conversations about the appropriateness of installing a camera inside the laundry room and ultimately decided it was necessary for the space.
“[We] spoke with the Dean of Student Experience, Ian Binnington, as well, and the decision was made that because it is a public space — while it is indoors — it is a public space where students should be appropriate,” Yeckley said.
The camera is not a threat to student’s privacy, Yeckley said, because it does not face inside any dorm rooms or bathrooms in the hall.
“Honestly, I thought it was an interesting choice,” said Baldwin resident Ezra Deegan, ’28. “I feel like maybe it’s necessary because you don’t know if someone is going to steal your clothes or not.”
Deegan is a student currently living in Baldwin Hall, but has never personally had any issues in the laundry room, outside of being inconvenienced by the couple of instances where the fire alarm went off because machines were overheating due to being overloaded with clothes. Regardless, Deegan was aware of the ongoing security issues.
“I know some people were having complaints of not having all their clothes come back, so I don’t think it was an inappropriate choice, per se,” Deegan said.
Prior to installing the camera, multiple efforts were made to prevent the incidents in Baldwin.
Yeckley said Residence Life tried providing education opportunities for students who do not know how to do laundry, mass emails reminding everyone of the implications of a shared space and increasing staff rounds. They have also considered fining the entire building’s residents for damages. When the efforts proved unsuccessful, ultimately the camera was the last resort.
According to Yeckley, no issues have been reported since the camera was installed.