Following a shooting and fights over the weekend outside West Campus Apartments, Residential Life administrators have announced they will no longer allow students to congregate in the community areas in the complex and will require them to show ID when resident advisers request it.
But some WCA residents say the extra measures are unnecessary, and Residential Life is overreacting to an incident that University students did not directly cause.
The measures come after LSUPD arrested a Southern University student early Sunday morning after he fired eight gunshots into the air during several fights outside WCA building two. The fights happened after a party on the second floor of building two.
In a notice posted Monday on the doors of buildings one and two, Residential Life said students must refrain from gathering near the pavilion or picnic tables. The notice also said if students do not show ID when a residential life employee asks, they may be turned over to the police.
Mary Wallace, associate director of residence education, said if resident advisers or live-in employees see more than 10 students congregating, they will ask students to disperse.
Westley Bayas, a political science senior, said he thinks Residential Life is trying to take away freedoms of WCA residents.
“I think this is an overreaction because it was a Southern [University] student,” Bayas said. “He was trespassing.”
Bayas also said the pavilions and picnic tables in the complex are there for students to congregate.
Bayas said fights like Saturday’s do not happen often. He also said resident advisers should not be able to force students to show IDs.
Although he said he does not know what or who started the fight, he said he saw many people around the apartments that did not go to LSU. Some apartment residents asked several non-LSU students to leave, he said.
To further secure the area, Wallace said patrolling police officers will extend their hours until 6 a.m. An officer will also accompany a resident adviser for a 1 a.m. security walk every night.
LSUPD Maj. Ricky Adams said LSUPD is concerned that someone carried a gun on campus.
Adams would not comment on any ongoing investigations of WCA residents who may have been involved in the fights. He said the officers arrived on the scene to break up the fights, but the gun diverted their attention, and the people fighting ran away.
Paul Dixon, an English and political science senior, said he does not think the increased rules will have any affect on the security of the complex.
“With one R.A. to each building, it’d be pretty tough to stop anything from going on,” he said. “And if someone wants to bring a gun, the new rules will not stop him.”