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Manhattanville plans change in bus service schedule

The Manhattanville College administration is leaning toward adjusting its shuttle bus service, following elevated outrage from the student body about the safety of its current schedule.

Manhattanville College’s administration is contemplating reintroducing its former bus schedule, which included later pickups on weekends, following the death of junior Robby Schartner on Oct. 9. Photo courtesy Karina Cordova
Manhattanville College’s administration is contemplating reintroducing its former bus schedule, which included later pickups on weekends, following the death of junior Robby Schartner on Oct. 9. Photo courtesy Karina Cordova

On Nov. 10, Michael Geisler, the college’s president, confirmed that the administration has begun discussing retracting last year’s controversial decision to alter the bus service schedule, according to Touchstone, the school’s newspaper. “I think we’re willing to bring back the bus starting in the spring term,” he said.

The interest in altering the school’s bus service comes in the wake of last month’s death of Robby Schartner, a 21-year-old junior at the college who was killed by Emma Fox, of Rye, while returning to campus after a night out in White Plains.

As of September 2015, the college decided to cut the last campus bus route on Fridays and Saturdays, which typically returned to campus by 3:30 a.m. As a result, the bus, the Valiant Express, makes its final return to campus at 1:30 a.m.

On Oct. 9, Schartner had been walking along Westchester Avenue in White Plains when he was struck by Fox, 24, who was under the influence at the time of the incident. At the time, police reported that Fox had a blood alcohol content of three times the legal limit in New York state; Fox was measured at 0.21, and the legal limit is 0.08. She is being charged with aggravated DUI and first-degree vehicular manslaughter.

“In regard to safety, this is the best decision the school can make,” said Falon Kirby, a senior at the college. “Students won’t feel stranded or lost [in White Plains], and will know that, no matter what the hour, they will return to Manhattanville College safely.”

As part of a new school policy implemented last year, the college altered the schedule for the Valiant Express bus, adding four early morning runs to transport students to and from White Plains Monday through Friday in place of the last two weekend runs.

“I love the [late] bus coming back to campus,” said Jess Cowle, a junior at the college. “I think it’s a great way for students to get home from a night out.”

J.J. Pryor, a spokeswoman for the college, previously told the Review that the administration enacted the change in the Valiant Express, which was once dubbed as the “drunk bus,” in order to comply with the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986. She said that an institution could potentially be penalized if the college is aware of on- or off-campus conduct that encourages drinking and does nothing to prevent such abuse.

But while the school administration plans to reverse course back to its former bus schedule, it’s currently unclear how the college will balance complying with the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, and protecting the safety of students returning from downtown White Plains under the influence after a night out.

Pryor could not be reached for comment, as of press time.

Fox was released from Westchester County Jail on Nov. 10, and is due back in court on Dec. 6.