While students were fueling for their second week of classes at Springfield College, the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union had an unusual interaction with a non-student. Tuesday morning on Alden Street,an influencer and model by the name of Kevin Olivas-Cruz, walked into the Campus Union during open access hours. He approached several students inside of the union asking, “How do I make friends on campus?” Although Olivas-Cruz was cordial and friendly in his interaction, he did this without notifying students that they were being video and audio recorded for social media content.
After he claimed he was a commuter student exploring the campus, Olivas-Cruz was stopped by Public Safety 20 minutes into his visit inside of the union, where they asked to see his ID and if he was a student here. It was discovered by students who interacted with Olivas-Cruz that he was in fact a social media influencer with 17 thousand followers.
The young man was then asked to leave the student union. Olivas-Cruz, who has a sizeable following mainly on Instagram, claimed to public safety officers that they could not ask him to leave because the school was public access and public property. After this statement, there was commotion on the second floor of the union for just a few minutes between officers, Olivas-Cruz and his videographer — the issue was resolved peacefully by two public safety officers.
Olivas-Cruz did eventually leave both the union and campus. Officers claimed to Olivas-Cruz that he was in violation of both Massachusetts wiretapping laws, as well as privacy and trespassing rules set by Springfield College. Here’s what Police Chief Joe Tiraboschi had to say in a statement about the incident, clarifying the situation:
Massachusetts law prohibits the secret recording of oral communications without the prior authorization of all parties to the communication. The law specifically addresses secret audio recording and does not, by itself, prohibit all photography or video recording.
Springfield College policy separately governs recording and privacy on campus. Individuals may not photograph, record, broadcast, or live stream another person without consent in locations where that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Because Springfield College is private property, the College may also establish and enforce reasonable rules governing filming, recording, and media activity on campus.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Public Safety)