Clare Struzziery, Staff Writer
December 8, 2023
Security at Nobles is ramping up. This fall, some may have noticed that a new safety system is in place on campus. Buildings and Grounds and Information Systems Support (ISS) have collaborated to install a remote door-locking system that encompasses all buildings. In the past, Buildings and Grounds staff would manually lock doors at night, before the weekend, and in the event of any emergency. Now, Buildings and Grounds Director Mike McHugh is able to remotely lock any door on campus with the click of a button. The doors operate on an electronic schedule that he can edit at any time, and McHugh receives an alert when a door is propped open. Key cards, integrated into the IDs of every faculty member, can unlock doors. This new system is an important move in a growing effort to ensure the security of Nobles’ campus.
Nobles has always had a Safety Committee, but according to McHugh, its activity has increased in recent years. Now, the group meets every other week to discuss various potential safety initiatives and how they could be implemented. The committee is led by Director of Campus Safety Danny Morris, a Wrentham police officer who specializes in emergency response. The group consists of Chief Financial and Operating Officer Steve Ginsberg and General Counsel Beth Reilly, along with McHugh and Chief Technology Officer Devereaux Brown. Last fall, the group organized a campus safety audit. “We had an outside company come, interview members of the school, and take a look at the physical campus,” Brown said. One of the outcomes of this audit was the suggestion to implement a remote door-locking system.
There are two main reasons that Nobles decided to execute this recommendation. First, safety was a key factor. “One of the easiest selling points was the security aspect of it. Before, if we had an incident on campus or around campus, I had to send my guys out to lock every door,” McHugh said. This could take around fifteen minutes, whereas now McHugh can lock all doors instantaneously with a simple press of a button. The second factor driving this decision was the convenience offered by this technology. In the past, when teams got back to campus late after away games, Buildings and Grounds staff had to meet buses at the Morrison Athletic Center (MAC) to unlock it for them. Now, if coaches notify McHugh, he can schedule MAC access for them ahead of time.
The Safety Committee and its initiatives have the goal of keeping Nobles secure. So what kind of security threats is this technology designed to combat? The answer is complicated. Nobles does not have an issue with unknown people trespassing on campus. Once, according to McHugh, campus was locked down for a few hours during preseason after a police chase in a nearby neighborhood. He had to send out Buildings and Grounds staff to run around campus locking doors as students were shepherded into the MAC. However, he says, “I just started my 14th year, and that’s the one and only time that we had to do it.”
Instead, Nobles faces different challenges, such as the arrival of parents and other visitors on campus without checking in. In an emergency, these people need to be accounted for. The new door-locking technology will help funnel people in through the main entrance where they can check in. The current schedule has the doors around the Henderson Arts Center open right before assembly and then locked a few minutes after, to discourage visitors from entering those ways.
As for drawbacks to this new technology, McHugh says there are few. A couple of mishaps have occurred already with adjusting the schedule. He says, “There’s a learning curve for us that are operating the system because it has a lot of nuances that you’re trying to figure out.” He further emphasized that it is important for faculty members to notify him ahead of time when they need access to a building outside of typical hours, so he can ensure that it will be unlocked.
With this construction system, Nobles now has the infrastructure in place to make every building accessible by key card only. However, McHugh says, “We don’t feel like we need to do that and don’t want to do that just yet.” Other ISL schools like Milton Academy and BB&N lock all of their buildings all day long, as their campuses are in more urban, exposed areas. “We’re in a little bit more remote location, we’re not a city school, and it is not necessary to go from building to building with doors locked,” Brown said. “Essentially, you’re forced through the main entrance,” McHugh said of campus. For now, the lives of Nobles students will remain unchanged, as the Safety Committee works behind the scenes to constantly reassess campus security.
(Photo Credit: Avery Winder)
