Concerns with communication and trust voiced at Campus Safety Commission meeting

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated Maya Weinstein's year at UNC. She is a third-year law student. Also, Weinstein's statements about a listening session on Yom Kippur were misconstrued. She was scheduled to lead a listening session for graduate and professional students on Yom Kippur, which she would not be able to attend due to the holiday. She raised the issue to highlight problems with Jewish inclusivity in light of increasingly more openly anti-semitic rhetoric in the United States.

At its general body meeting Wednesday, members of the Campus Safety Commission discussed an array of safety issues concerning the town of Chapel Hill and campus community, including sexual assault and Confederates carrying guns on Franklin Street.  

Members of the Campus Safety Commission said students have expressed their concerns about the lack of communication, trust and safety on campus in response to the rise of crime in the area. They also said community members seek clarity as to how the University is going to keep students aware of surrounding threats. 

Maya Weinstein, a third-year law student, is a member of the commission. Was scheduled to lead a listening session for graduate and professional students on Yom Kippur, which she would not be able attend because of the holiday. She raised the issue at the meeting to illustrate problems with the inclusivity of the Jewish community in the commission's conversations about anti-semitic flyers and recent synagogue shootings.

Neo-Nazi presence

In the first of a string of listening sessions last week, campus community members wanted to speak to interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz about a variety of recent issues relevant to the community as a whole, including sexual assault and the Neo-Nazi presence on campus. Holman spoke on behalf of the chancellor, saying he wants to build trust between the administration and the students and ensure the voices of the campus community are heard. 

Weinstein said she hopes the listening sessions the commission will be hosting throughout the rest of the year will keep the community informed about various issues. 

“We want to be certain that everyone has a voice and that their voice shall not be diminished," said DeVetta Holman, the resiliency and student support programs coordinator at UNC’s Student Wellness organization. "We are all here to talk about inclusive excellence and make sure people feel comfortable not just on campus but this commission as well."

Annual security report

At the general body meeting, Director of UNC’s Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office Brandon Washington spoke about the annual security report, released Sept. 30., which includes crime statistics on campus. 

Washington then said he thinks Clery Act training — which includes logistical knowledge related to informing the campus community about dangers on campus through means like Alert Carolina — may be needed. He said he believes the training can do a lot to clear up some issues around miscommunication between students and the University. 

Students expressed a desire to know the criteria for an Alert Carolina email, Holman said at the Tuesday meeting. Students also wanted information regarding when the University chooses to send an alert to students.

The impact of Silent Sam on campus was also brought up at the meeting. 

Political science Professor Frank Baumgartner said because of campus culture, certain groups of students and activists perceive the police department as untrustworthy. He also spoke about concerns of nighttime safety and sexual violence on campus. 

“Certain groups on campus have very strong concerns, especially in an environment where there are white nationalist shootings,” Baumgartner said. "People are really scared they can be targeted and they're not confident the police have their backs." 

Safety and trust

Baumgartner mentioned the listening session held with Chief of UNC Police David Perry and other officers on Sept. 30. 

Officers expressed their frustrations with how they are perceived as being Confederate sympathizers, Baumgartner said. He said the officers talked about improving communication between the police department and students on campus under the new leadership.

Holman then talked about the listening session that discussed sexual assault on campus where delegates from the Panhellenic Council, as well as people from the Student Safety & Wellness Committee, were present. Holman said they were concerned about the process for the Alert Carolina System. 

The recent sexual assault at the Shortbread Lofts parking deck was a cause of concern, Holman said. There are community members that believe the University can do a better job at keeping people aware of possible threats to human safety, she said. 

“They felt like they got more information about adverse weather than about safety issues on campus,” Holman said.

@nathankwesley

university@dailytarheel.com