Student leaders from cultural and political organizations are organizing an open forum between students, faculty and administration regarding campus safety concerns. The forum will take place Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the USU ballrooms and will go on until 6:30 p.m.
This forum will be the second attempt at creating an open dialogue between the campus community and Cal State Long Beach administration — but this time around, student leaders will orchestrate the conversation.
Black Student Union President Justin Bradley organized the second forum alongside President Jane Close Conoley and Vice President Carmen Taylor as well as several other student organizations such as La Raza Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Association. Those groups will also speak at the forum.
Bradley, a senior Afrikana and religious studies double major, said that the goal for this forum is to have a face-to-face discussion with administration about concerns regarding intersectional student safety on campus.
“My feeling is that what essentially prompted the need for a forum, organized and led by students, was due to the ongoing feeling within the larger student population that our voices are not being heard on a consistent basis,” Bradley said. “There is a lack of consistent proactiveness from CSULB administration in listening to students, so students feel it is necessary to lead in providing a safe space for students to be comfortable in speaking out and know that our voices are being heard.”
President Conoley sent a mass email to the campus community inviting students to the forum. The message listed five guests that have been invited to converse in the discussion: Chancellor Timothy P. White, President Conoley, Vice President Taylor, Dean of Students Jeff Klaus and Chief of Police Fernando Solorzano. Of the five guests, only the president and vice president are confirmed.
The forum comes after the Feb 25 incident where a professor and one other student saw a male student holding a 2.2-inch knife in a sociology class on race, class and gender.
Executive Director of News Mike Uhlenkamp said the first forum that took place March 10 did not achieve a productive dialogue.
“Unfortunately, the first forum did not allow for us to have that opportunity. There wasn’t a dialogue. And so I hope there will be a dialogue and there will be a civil discussion about the concerns for safety on campus,” Uhlenkamp said.
Uhlenkamp said that the second forum is not meant to be a discussion on the knife incident that took place at CSULB on Feb. 25 since the university has given all the information that they are able to give on the ongoing case.
“It’s more about giving students or other members of the campus community an opportunity to share information about safety. We want to have a conversation about safety,” Uhlenkamp said.
The forum will be held today in the USU ballrooms from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.