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Student Leaders Prepare to Speak Out Against Gating Trinity College

By Kerri Provost

March 06, 2012

Despite the fact that the recent attack of Chris Kenny happened off campus, some students are planning to rally to “try to persuade [Trinity] to close our campus with gates,” according to a Facebook group intended to support the victim. They are calling on the school to change its priorities so that students can “start feeling safe again,” writes Carlito Barreto.

The planned rally appears to be less about showing support for Kenny’s recovery and more about persuading Trustees, who will be on campus this weekend, that closing off the campus is necessary.

Not all students at the college desire a gated campus. In an email among student leaders who have self-identified as being opposed to barriers, they write: “this incident has been a catalyst for racial, classist assumptions, and I worry that our neighbors might not take too kindly to our building a partition between one another.”

There are efforts underway to prepare for a counter-rally, should one in favor of gating the campus occur.

There is no word whether or not students would be forced to remain on campus, where the recent attack did not occur, if a decision is made to fence it off from the surrounding community.

UPDATE: Students who are in favor of a safe and open campus have opted to not counter-protest at the rally on Thursday. They are working on expressing their support for Kenny and safety through other avenues.