Students petition VPUL to keep McGinn guards

Approximately 2,500 campus residents signed a petition supporting McGinn Security Services, Acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum said this week. The petition, which read, "We are pleased with McGinn Security and would like them to remain in our building," was submitted to McCoullum earlier this month. McCoullum said the petition confirms her beliefs about sentiments shared among some students. She added, however, that she does not regret her decision to terminate McGinn's contract. "We did the right thing," she said. "I think there are a large number of McGinn workers who have attempted to provide exemplary service, but there remained important areas [of service] which were not being addressed." In March, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that five McGinn guards were found asleep on the job during a two-hour period on the "graveyard shift" one night. As a result, McCoullum and Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone terminated McGinn's contract, effective June 30, four years earlier than it was set to expire. Earlier this month, Joseph McGinn, Sr., president of McGinn Security Services, distributed a flyer in dormitories which criticized recent DP editorials and also listed changes McGinn recently implemented to improve services. According to the flyer, some of these changes include more breaks for guards on the graveyard shift, radio communication to guards every 15 minutes, and increased communication and supervision by University Police. McGinn said he is "pleasantly surprised" by the support students have demonstrated for his company through the petition. And even though McGinn's flyer was passed out in dorms after the petition was started, he said he thinks his letter contributed to student support. "If I had known I would have such positive results, I would have [distributed] the flyer sooner," he said. Simeone also said she had received "a lot of positive feedback" on McGinn services this month. Simeone said the first 300 responses to a survey passed out by Residential Living gave McGinn Services a "generally positive" rating. According to Simeone, only two complaints have been issued against McGinn guards since the company was given notice of the termination of its contract. "I'm personally aware of two problems," she said. "[It was] reported that the gate was uncovered for a period of time at the Quad, and a guard Saturday morning [during move-out] was an hour late." Simeone said these were not "security breaches," adding that the problems were quickly solved. McCoullum said Executive Vice President Janet Hale and University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich will be supervising the process for drawing up specifications and prequalifiers for the new security services contract. Kuprevich said this week that he hopes to have a new contract drawn up and a new security firm hired by August 15. He added that he will recommend that McGinn's contract be extended from June 30 to August 15.

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