Complaints were made about a disruptive prankster who has recently been contacted by security
Students have taken to a Concordia Reddit page warning others about a potential security risk in the last week of February.
Two separate posts were made complaining about a young man filming himself intentionally playing audio at high volumes. The man in question is a YouTuber labelling his escapades as “pranks.”
The stunt itself included the prankster moving to different locations across the library, intentionally watching videos with unplugged headphones while pretending to be oblivious. This would eventually cause distraction and confusion among surrounding students, prompting many to confront him — which is exactly what the YouTuber wanted.
“It’s not hard to notice when someone is being obnoxious, to send a librarian or even security over,” said Araya Robichaud, a second-year political science student at Concordia. Robichaud was one of the original users to post about the incidents on the subreddit.
Robichaud’s post was prompted by a friend who had encountered the YouTuber at the library. Robichaud decided to air his concerns online after watching the video and seeing the rhetoric expressed by the creator.
The post generated a lot of attention, both from students and strangers alike. Many people sent official complaints to the University’s security to prevent similar instances.
Despite these recent events, Robichaud says he hasn’t encountered any disturbances at the library. However, Robichaud expressed his frustration with chatter at the library.
“I do think I recognize some groups of students that, when I see them, I’ll grab my stuff and move. I know they’re just there to talk,” he said.
To prevent future disturbances and complaints, Robichaud said he wishes for designated library staff to ensure general safety.
“I get frequent actual complaints about students asking me to tell other students that are being rowdy or noisy to keep it down,” said Noemi Marcaida-Golebiowski, a front desk worker at the library. “Everyday, like literally everyday.”
Marcaida-Golebiowski said she deals with patrons every day, both students and professors, loaning books, DVDs and miscellaneous documents. She learned about the recent disturbances through word of mouth and from the posts on Concordia’s Reddit page. When she reached out to the library’s administrator, she was happy to hear that security was already dealing with the issue.
Although Marcaida-Golebiowski sympathized with the library attendees’ complaints, she said that the library staff did not have the authority to remove people from the library.
Director of Campus Safety and Prevention Services Darren Dumoulin said the department itself hadn’t received many complaints regarding the recent incident due to students contacting other departments.
Dumoulin said students who encounter these situations should contact security immediately by calling campus security.
“It’s so we can respond to it at that time and not be receiving an email several days after the fact,” Dumoulin said.
Dumoulin added that security agents would not immediately expel any disrupting person from the library and would intervene otherwise, as per protocol. However, repeated behavior might initiate what he called “an escalation process” which could prompt agents to ask the person to leave.
“We don’t profile people before they go into the library,” he said. “We really react to behaviour issues.”
According to Dumoulin, the security department has been in contact with the YouTuber. However, no official library staff member has yet to meet him.
Although Dumoulin understands the frustration behind these recurring issues, he said the library’s openness to the public and downtown environment creates a challenge for security staff.
“Posting stuff on social media will not initiate a response,” Dumoulin said. “You can’t study if you’re afraid and if you don’t feel safe, call us.”
