Seeking a Ban on Hostile Benches
Abbey Nyberg, who is pursuing a dual program for Secondary Education and English, has teamed up with two other students, Matthew Graham and Elliot Bailey, to present a proposal combating “hostile architecture” on campus.
“We all got together because we are all passionate about stopping [this],” she said.
With the presentation now part of a non fiction English class assignment, she aims to soon get support from ASUN [The Associated Students of the University of Nevada] and “take our persuasive letter to [UNR] President Brian Sandoval and then from there we are hoping to hear back from him on a potential ban on this that could be written into the bylaws of the university or something like that to basically ban all future hostile architecture with an emphasis in those anti-homeless benches.”
“Obviously homelessness is just skyrocketing in the Reno-Sparks area, with our current housing market. I’ve just seen it increasing it drastically in my lifetime,” the Northern Nevada native said.
In our interview she referred to a recent study indicating a third of all university students in the US are housing insecure at some point during their higher learning experience, with 18% having actually experienced homelessness at some point during their studies.
Specific statistics are hard to come by, with local reporting often relying on the use of Pack Provisions, the university’s food pantry, to gage the current extent of student and faculty poverty. A recent Nevada Today article indicated the need for food assistance is expected to double among students this academic year.
“The standard looking bench has shorter seat width than normal,” Nyberg said of the ubiquitous green benches seen across campus. “Hostile architecture can be found all over the UNR campus, particularly anti-homeless benches, any kind of benches that have bars in them, or bars at every seat are considered anti-homeless, in addition to benches with sloped bottoms, where you can’t really sit on them or lay on them long term, those are also anti-homeless.”
Without Stable Shelter, and On Campus for Long Hours
As an IT worker at the Knowledge Center, Nyberg says she sees individuals there who are clearly without stable shelter and inside from as early as five a.m. to when she leaves work at five in the afternoon.
“I’m a little bit concerned about where the individuals I see everyday are going to go on those days that it gets colder,” Nyberg said of reduced hours during the upcoming Wintermester, which will coincide with harsher weather and dorms still closed due to COVID-19.
Why does hostile architecture even exist?
“I think a lot of it has to do with the belief that homeless people are somehow dangerous or that they’re dirty or representing the community in a way that’s not desirable if that makes sense,” Nyberg answered. “It may not look great to have a homeless individual sitting on the street, but I would rather have them have a safe place to be than having to put themselves in unsafe situations just to find a spot to rest.”
Does she have any other ideas to help students and faculty without stable shelter?
“I think it would be really cool if a university could open up a low income or adjusted housing situation with students having an opportunity to live on a campus and have a place to live on a much more affordable cost than say the dorms,” Nyberg said. “It’s pretty ridiculous to live in the dorms with a higher cost than some rent they could pay off campus. Something like that would be really nice to see, to help out those students even if it’s something where they can come and go based on their needs, that would be really awesome.”