After three weeks of debate, the student senate voted against a resolution to keep the Greene Street gates open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weeknights. Student senate has also passed a resolution to keep the gates on Greene Street permanently closed.
The resolution to keep the Greene Street gates closed was introduced by Senators Philip Allan, Tatiana Chin, Mackenzie Daly, Lee Goble, Jonathan Holt, Markus Johnson, Zachary Kirby, Katherine LaWall and Grace Zimmermann.
The resolution designates that the official stance of the USC student body is to keep the gates permanently closed, but is not the final decision. The resolution will now stand for USC in other debates on the gates around Columbia, including City Council. The timeline for a final decision is not yet established.
Student safety was one major argument in favor of keeping the gates closed. During debate, it was mentioned that there is a plan to extend Greene Street to the river and that it could potentially generate traffic through the center of campus if the gates were to remain open.
Sen. Goble also researched on-campus DUI arrests, finding that 140 occurred in 2014 and argued leaving the gates open could do harm in central campus.
“When we talk about the safety aspect of the gates being closed, it provides a much safer area for our students,” Student Body Vice President Donnie Iorio said on the safety of closed gates. “Crime is directly linked to access to a motor vehicle. The bad guy wants to get in, commit the crime and get out. By restricting that access, you restrict crime in the area too.”
Another major argument for keeping the gates closed was the potential for alternate uses of the gated-off portion of Greene Street. The construction on the Student Health Center is set to take up a portion of the Russell House Patio, which senators claimed would take away space for activities. They also argued these activities could be moved to Greene Street.
"I think in the short term you'll see tables, you'll see chairs, you'll see more programming. In the long term, if you look at the master plan, this becomes (the) university,” Iorio said. “By claiming this space, we have the ability to turn it into a full student space, which is just really cool."
Iorio said he was happy with the way the debate process played out. He compared the student senators’ interactions with their constituents to Washington politicians dealing with lobbyists.
"If all 50 people in the room agree on something, then 49 are not needed. It is absolutely necessary to get out there, talk to constituents and to challenge opinions. That is what senate's for,” Iorio said.