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Students, faculty express concern at town hall

Separate meetings were held for faculty and students Wednesday regarding the incident that closed the design building on Friday.

The board in charge of the town hall meeting included Tom Mazalia, the Director of Judicial Affairs and Student Conduct, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Jeff Klaus, Lt. Richard Goodwin of the University Police department and Chair of the Design Department Martin Herman.

During the meeting, Goodwin said that on Friday at 11:45 a.m., an incident occurred in Professor David Lee’s classroom. Goodwin said “a student of question” entered the classroom and handed a note to the professor. Goodwin said the note “aroused the professor’s curiosity, as far as its nature; it was not something that would be construed as a normal note.” Goodwin said that the student “had sunglasses on and was very odd in his behavior.” Goodwin said that after the student left the room, University Police was notified about the incident.

The students in the gallery during the second meeting asked several times about the contents of the note, but the board indicated that they are unclear at this time about what the note said; Goodwin said the note caused alarm and police were notified.

Several members of the gallery during the faculty meeting indicated that they did not know what had happened on Friday.

Professor Dorothy Ottolia said, “I’m the one who has to go and lock the doors, and I have no clue as to what is going on.”

She said after she dismissed her students she “walked down the hallway, this police officer makes no contact with me, and walks right out the door; and I’m thinking, ‘Did he tell anybody anything?’ I went into the front office, and he didn’t even bother to tell the front office staff.”

During the meeting, Lee said, “We’re not even communicated to.” Lee said faculty were “out there, flopping around, trying to save the lives of our students and make them feel comfortable.”

Lee asked, “Why did it take so long? What was happening between Friday and Monday at 4:45? Why was there no definitive statement from the university or police about what was happening?”

Herman said, “I was flying blind all weekend … whatever communication was happening seemed to be happening at a very high level.”

Professor Michael LaForte said, “On a public relations level, this is a disaster; there should have been notifications sent immediately, even with no names mentioned, no details of the incident … there needs to be announcements made.”

Lee said that there should be an email alert system.

Klaus prefaced the student meeting by saying, “We are absolutely committed to making sure your campus is safe.” He also told students that “reporting a student to us does not get that student in trouble. We are trying to be proactive.”

A female in the student gallery said she “wanted to know earlier, instead of waiting until the last minute to be evacuated.” A male in the student gallery said, “It was very vague, and there was no officer here.”

Goodwin said there was an officer in the building, but the officer did not go door to door. A female student said, “We had to find out on Facebook, and we got no notification from the school.” She said the first email that she received was regarding the town hall meeting.

Klaus said, “There was no need for the police to arrest anyone … there was no direct threat.”

A male in the student gallery said, “I don’t feel safe with him.”

Klaus said they would never allow a student to come back to a classroom if they thought he was a danger to other students.

The board gave no specific or definitive response during either meeting regarding the contents of the note that Goodwin said was given to Lee.

A female in the student gallery said, “I feel more uneasy after hearing this conversation.”

Another female student said, “I want to know that I can come to school and still be able to go back home to my daughter.” A male student asked, “How do we know this won’t turn into something else?”

Klaus said, “There will be additional conversations with him … there will be follow up; we want this student to be aware of what has occurred.”

Klaus said, “We have one of the safest universities in the country; the police response time to an incident is less than two minutes.”

“Not on Friday,” a male student said from the gallery.

Goodwin said, “This student was brought in immediately; he was questioned, he was given sources to seek any assistance he might need, he was then referred to the [Campus Assessment, Response and Evaluation for Students] team.” Goodwin also said there was nothing on the student’s record such as gun possession or previous history that raised alarm and that the student has returned to campus.

The identity of the student was neither confirmed nor revealed by University Police or any member of the board during either of the two separate meetings that were held on Wednesday.

This incident did not appear in the police media log. Goodwin said it could have been recorded as an incident report, which usually does not show up on the media log.

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