University police increased their patrols of Ezra Stiles College over the weekend after Ezra Stiles Master Stuart Schwartz requested more surveillance of the college, Yale Police Lt. Michael Patten said.
The request for the heightened police activity came in response to an unauthorized gathering in the Stiles common room Oct. 15. Patten said officers were ordered to patrol the Stiles courtyard, but would not be an invasive presence within the college.
“We’re not going to walk through the hallways to see what people are doing,” Patten said. “If we get a call, we’ll respond to the call.” Schwartz said the recent unauthorized gathering was not the only factor that lead to his decision.
“The incident that caused me to ask for more surveillance was simply the last of a series of incidents where there had been some disruption and some physical damage to the college, and so it was necessary to get a grip on this,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz said this is the first time he has felt the need to ask for more surveillance of the college, a request about which he said other masters have spoken to him.
“It seemed like every weekend there was something, and I will say this, other masters have complained about similar incidents and have called me and said, ‘Geez, I’m really glad you did that, because things have been getting out of hand,'” Schwartz said.
Saybrook College Master Mary Miller said she heard of Schwartz’s decision to request for more surveillance in Stiles. She said she felt fortunate not to have to resort to comparable measures in Saybrook.
“I don’t have any particular complaints at all,” Miller said, “Sometimes there’s a party that is a little too loud, and if that is the case, I pay a visit. There have been times when I’ve asked people to leave and they leave.”
Schwartz said he does not blame the fraternity which held the gathering for what happened last weekend. Rather, he made a request for more surveillance of the college so that an event like this would not be repeated, particularly because it involved individuals outside of the Stiles community, Schwartz said.
“My general impression is that these acts or incidents result when people outside of the college come into the college,” he said. “I wanted to get across the message that this is not a good place to come and have parties. I don’t want Stiles to have this kind of reputation.”
Schwartz said one of the reasons he has problems with large parties in Stiles is because they have resulted in damages to college property this semester.
“We had a door broken to the dining hall, and we had some of our outdoor furniture thrown over the wall,” Schwartz said.
According to the undergraduate regulations on social functions, permission from the master must be obtained for gatherings with an expected attendance of more than 20 participants. The regulations also state parties must end by 1 a.m. on weekends, unless the master grants a special exception.
Andrew Johnson ’06, a Stiles student, said he did not see any officers patrolling the courtyard during the weekend.
“I was in the college the whole weekend, and I didn’t notice any difference between this weekend and any other weekend,” he said. “I haven’t seen a single cop.”
Baolu Lan ’06, who lives in Stiles, said the source of her biggest noise complaint was not excessively loud gatherings in the college.
“Frankly, my main concern is the leaf blower that comes here every day, including Saturdays and Sundays,” Lan said, “This is more of a noise complaint than any fraternity might have caused.”