OFF LIMITS

Berklee College Apologizes for Allowing Police to Use Campus Toilets During Protest

The officers had been allowed to use a concert hall bathroom during protests on May 31.

Berklee College of Music administrators have apologized for allowing members of the Boston Police Department to use restrooms in the college’s concert hall during protests on May 31. The response came after students and community members expressed frustration and pain over the decision to allow the officers in the building, especially because the hall is closed to students because of the pandemic. The administrators said the decision to allow officers in was made in the moment, and that the hall was not part of a larger police staging effort.

“Allowing police officers into the space was in no way meant to undermine Berklee’s support for Black Lives Matter,” Berklee President Roger H. Brown, Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance Mac Hisey, and Police Chief David Ransom said in the statement. Moving forward, administrators said police will not be allowed in the building.