With the impending expiration of Brown's contract with Green Horn Management to provide security at Greek and sporting events, the University is weighing contracts with other companies. But students involved in Greek life and athletics have made it clear that a new firm would not be welcome.
The University will reevaluate its security service and assess pricing of competing security companies before the contract expires this year, wrote Ricky Gresh, senior director for student engagement, in an email to The Herald. The Student Activities Office and the Department of Athletics, in consultation with other offices including the Department of Public Safety, will make final vendor recommendations, Gresh wrote.
Currently, Brown is employing C.C. Security Corp on a trial basis at athletic games and events, he wrote. "All potential vendors, including GHM, will be invited to compete for Brown's business," Gresh wrote. For now, GHM is still the University's primary security service.
Though the University must garner student input before making a final decision as part of the formal search procedure, Greek Council representatives have received little information about the process, said Araceli Mendez '13, chair of the council. The Greek system has no complaints with GHM and does not want to see the company go, Mendez said.
If GHM is replaced, the decision will not go unnoticed, said Jon Land '79, alumni adviser to the Greek System, alumni president of Delta Phi Fraternity and vice president of the Brown Football Association. "Plenty of people are going to notice, and plenty of people are going to care," he said.
GHM has been providing security at sporting events for 10 years and at Greek events for five, said Land. During this period, GHM has not received any student complaints, though it dealt with problems of sexual abuse, Emergency Medical Services and fights, he said.
The security company itself has heard very little from the University, wrote Karen Boyle, owner of GHM, in an email to The Herald. "Brown, in all honesty, has not been very forthcoming. We seem to be finding out about various proposals and ideas as they happen," she wrote. "We greatly enjoy working for the University, but I am surprised by some of their actions."
For now, GHM is working on an adjusted contract with the SAO that will keep the company involved for the rest of the year, Boyle wrote. She is concerned about certain effects of the loss of a contract, including safety at athletic events and student activities and the well-being of GHM's empoyees.
Many GHM employees make ends meet through part-time work. "If GHM was to lose the Brown contract, it would not make sense to keep an operation in Rhode Island," Boyle wrote. She said the company would likely shut down if its losses were high.
In the end, "if referees are doing a good job, then you do not notice them," Land said. "I do not think anyone would say GHM is not fair, is not respectful and is not diligent."
