Nov. 16, 2016

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The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

Volume XCV | Est. 1929 | www.sjuhawknews.com

Nov. 16, 2016

Safety on campus How students utilize Public Safety on- and off-campus SAM HENRY ’19 Assistant News Editor

After a reported egging on Nov. 6, the “Syngoga and Eccelsia In Our Time” statue is cleaned on Nov. 11. The vandals have not been identified. The base of the statue will undergo restoration in the coming weeks to remove any possible damage. (Photo by Luke Malanga, ’20)

Making its mark

Saint Joseph’s implements President’s Council on Inclusion and Diversity CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 Hawk Staff University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., announced the implementation of the President’s Council on Inclusion and Diversity via email on Oct. 21. The council recently held their first meeting to discuss issues of inclusion on campus. The council’s chair is Assistant Provost for Inclusion and Diversity Monica Nixon, Ed.D. The council focuses on initiatives and methods in order to strengthen the efforts of inclusion on campus. “The campus had a series of listening sessions last academic year,” Nixon said. “[The talks were] about inclusion and diversity. One of the needs that emerged from those conversations was some sort of high level group that could advise the president and other university leaders about important issues related to inclusion and diversity.” The council includes a wide variety of students from differing backgrounds. “I feel like it is an important topic to talk about,” student representative Rob Focht, ’19, said. “I like being an agent of change which is why I am on the [Student] Senate, but I feel like I can do more. This is a more concentrated area of change.” Focht emphasized that his main goal is to see constructive change come out of the council rather than just talking about the change. “One of my biggest pet peeves is someone talking about change but never actually wanting to do it,” Focht said. “I would just like to see us following through on our plans—whatever they may be.” The council is determining how inclu-

sion is represented on campus presently and how to improve on it in the future. “It’s both what our vision [is] but also what is our blueprint for accomplishing that vision,” Nixon said. “Understanding that inclusion is never the end goal but that it’s in some ways about the journey. We do have goals along the way so how do we hold one another accountable for those goals?” The council already had their first meeting and are meeting again soon to discuss how to approach change on campus. “We did start thinking about where we have strengths and opportunities when it comes to inclusion and where we have barriers,” Nixon said. “We are going to talk about the campus climate study and what that looks like.” The campus climate is an essential factor for the council’s future motivations to further inclusion on campus. “The last meeting, we talked about the climate on campus and what our status is and how diverse people feel on campus. So next meeting I think we are going to talk about action plans,” Focht said. Nixon said the data they are going to use will include how staff, faculty, and students are represented here based on race, ethnicity, nationality, and socioeconomic status. “One of the needs that has emerged very strongly in the different conversations that have happened is around inclusion,” Nixon said. “The president’s council will be involved with that strategic planning process.” Focht said he wants to be able to make

that change by being a good student representative and approaching the council with issues and ideas to solve the university’s problems. “What I want to do is basically be in the places where the adults or faculty are not,” Focht said. “So I get to see a firsthand experience of everything, and then I can use that and report back to the council [to] see what we can come up with based off of that.” Nixon wants to make sure the community knows that this council is here and that they are trying to make a change for the campus in its entirety. “I would like to make sure that what we are doing is transparent and it’s not like some secret group that is going to fix all the problems we have with inclusion and that its collective work,” Nixon said. “This group represents a lot of interest and there are many more interests that we have to make sure we are connected with.”

Monica Nixon, Ed.D., Assistant Provost for Inclusion and Diversity (Photo by Joey Toczylowski, ’19)

The Office of Public Safety and Security at Saint Joseph’s University is made up of three shift captains, six shift lieutenants, and 76 officers, who all work to keep students safe both on- and off-campus, as well as in the areas surrounding campus where many students choose to reside. There is a sense of security for students on-campus that is reflected by the campus’ safety measures. “I think in general, the campus is well lit. There are emergency call boxes, people are alert to who else is here, and Public Safety walks the campus,” said Mary-Elaine Perry, Title IX and assistant vice president for Student Development. There are still many precautions that students are encouraged to take in order ensure their safety, particularly as students leave main campus. “There are things that students can do that are going to reduce their likelihood of being victimized. And there are other behaviors that students will often, and do, engage in that increase the likelihood of being victimized,” said Arthur Grover, director of Public Safety. Grover listed the following factors which increase a student’s risk of becoming a victim: walking alone late at night, choosing to engage a shortcut through an alleyway, a driveway, or an area that is not well lit, being impaired, and being distracted on their personal device. These factors not only increase the risk for the student, but also decrease the risk of the perpetrator. “Last year, we transported 200,000 [students] from destination A to destination B,” Grover said. “All of them, 1,000 percent arrived at their location safe, sound, and unmolested. There is not many things in life that you can point to that are 1, 000 percent—that is one of them. I urge students to think about that and to use those transportation services that are free for them.” These transportation services are not limited to students who live on campus, but also extend to those students who choose to live in off-campus housing. St. Joe’s campus, which is slightly over 100 acres, has over 250 blue light emergency phones, according to Grover. “I honestly don’t think I would use the blue light system because I don’t know when I hit the button what is going to happen,” Richard Foronjy, ’19, said. The blue light system is something that is discussed on every tour of the university; however, many students are unaware of the response if they were to press the emergency button.

CONTINUED ON PG. 2


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Nov. 16, 2016 by The Hawk - Issuu