Dawn Redwood
Parent
Yesterday, I took my daughter to VCU. Day one of the graduate school experience, but the lock on her room door was not working.
At first, the lock didn’t lock, but when it did lock, it wouldn’t open from the inside. What if there was a fire and she couldn’t get out of the room? What if she was in the room asleep and someone came into her room and did God knows what to her? What if someone came in her room while she was out and robbed her? The staff told her that, This was not an emergency and it could wait until morning to be repaired.”
To comfort me, I was told that “only VCU students could come up there.” What is wrong with these people? Do they live in some kind of bubble? Crime happens everywhere, even on college campuses. If there was no concerns, no one would need locks on doors anywhere. We do not (live) in a paradise.
Naturally, I objected to waiting until morning to getting the repairs done. After voicing my concerns, someone was sent over to repair the lock. Of course, I was made out to be the crazy villain because I said something. But I didn’t care.
To be truthful, I wasn’t upset about the door lock malfunctioning; I was upset that it wasn’t taken seriously enough to get it repaired that evening without a considerable amount of urging. Apparently someone was available to fix the door, but the staff didn’t bother to call until I insisted it be fixed.
Clearly, her safety is not a priority at VCU. All the other staff and students have locks on their doors. To expect anyone’s family to leave their student in an unsafe setting is unrealistic. I was told that they have this problem with the locks from time to time and it’s seasonal. I am not interested in any excuses, especially when it affects personal safety.
I found it interesting that her room door was the only one in the building that had that problem. They knew we were coming, as it was move-in day and everything should have been prepared correctly. I am outraged that my daughter’s safety was taken so lightly. We were so happy that she chose VCU to pursue her graduate studies. Now, I think we’ve made a poor choice and I really wish she had chose somewhere else. Given a chance to do it over again, we would have chosen differently.
VCU, you stink and I’ll make sure I tell all of my friends and family.