Students standing guard

Attempt to enter Campus Club on a typical Saturday night and, chances are, you’ll be greeted by a stern-looking student asking to see your PUID.

These men and women — often clad entirely in black — are members of the Safeguard Agency, a branch of Princeton Student Agencies. Overseen by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, the entirely student-run business provides security for most University-sponsored events, such as Wilson BlackBox events and USG-sponsored Lawnparties concerts.

Though often overlooked, Safeguards — as they are commonly known — play an integral role in the campus social scene that does not revolve around the Street. At many campus events, they are the only security officials present and have a wide range of responsibilities, including ID-checking, wristband-dispensing and crowd control.

The group of Safeguards is eclectic, drawing members from a variety of campus groups.

“We have Safeguards from every student class, although there are probably more upperclassmen than freshmen,” Matt Lichtenstein ’10, manager of the Safeguard Agency, said in an e-mail. “Typically, the students that work [at the most events] will be the same class year as the Agency manager, as these are the students that he knows the best. Many also come from student groups that the manager is affiliated with; that creates a large pool of employees.”

The Safeguard Agency has recently attracted a variety of athletes, Lichtenstein added.

“Broadly speaking,” he said, “in recent years, the Safeguard Agency has employed many football players, club soccer players [and] track athletes.”

Though safeguards are not charged with some of the more potentially serious security issues, such as breaking up physical altercations, they are carefully selected and routinely participate in a training program.

“The hiring process is entirely the responsibility of the Agency manager,” Lichtenstein said. “Typically, the employee roster carries over from year to year and from manager to manager, as those who are already on the roster have established credibility and experience.” He noted, though, that managers can hire any currently enrolled student.

The training process requires that all Safeguards, regardless of experience level, attend a session where a Public Safety officer instructs them on the proper ways to deal with situations that might arise on the job.

“Generally speaking, Safeguards handle basic security as well as some smaller services that the client may request,” Lichtenstein said. “Safeguards also have the authority to deny patrons entry to events at their own discretion.”

If a fight occurs, Safeguards are officially instructed to alert Public Safety rather than handle the situation themselves.

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“While there is a risk of having fights break out during certain events, Safeguards are not required to step in and break them up,” Lichenstein explained. “If a Safeguard chooses to break up a fight, they may do so as a concerned student.”

Though Safeguards and nighttime bouncers at the eating clubs are easily confused, the two groups are distinct, and Safeguards are actually prohibited from working security at eating clubs.

Terrace Club President Andrew Chong ’11 said in an e-mail that Terrace employs security personnel who are hired “by weight class.”

“Our A-team is Big Al, Frank, Vince and Scott, who are outwardly as fierce as lions but on the inside as cuddly as lambs,” Chong added.

“In the past, Safeguards had moonlighted for the eating clubs as bouncers, but they did so wearing their Safeguard uniforms,” Lichtenstein said. But now, he explained, “Because this poses a legality issue — since the clubs are independent of the University — no students working for the Safeguard Agency may work for the eating clubs.” Lichtenstein added that they are prohibited from working independently as bouncers for the eating clubs as well.

While Safeguards very rarely are confronted with dangerous incidents, there have been times in the past when they have been present at events with serious security problems.

During the 2008 Princeton Preview weekend, a fight broke out at the annual Wilson BlackBox pre-frosh party. The confrontation, which led to the arrest of three individuals unaffiliated with the University, prompted the Safeguard Agency to change its event policies to improve the safety of University-sponsored events.

One such policy change is to issue pre-frosh identification cards.

“Because the pre-frosh [at that time] were not given any form of identification, it was impossible to determine who was or was not a pre-frosh,” Lichtenstein said. “Today, pre-frosh are given ID cards, allowing Safeguards to monitor who attends the designated pre-frosh events. Also, the Safeguard Agency has instituted a guest-list policy that requires the documentation of guests’ names, addresses and driver’s licenses.”

While Lichtenstein noted that the Agency is continually working with Public Safety to improve its effectiveness, the Safeguards’ mission remains unchanged: to ensure that University students remain safe and secure while having fun.