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Davidsonian
Independent Student Journalism Since 1914
inside
davidsonian.com
Inside poet Stacey Waite’s recent visit to Davidson
Volume 121, Issue 4
October 5, 2022
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Anaya Patel ‘25 on the protest against the DCI’s speaker event
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Does “Don’t Worry Darling” deliver?
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The Yowl reports the original lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “Enchanted”
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Sounding the Siren: Students Examine Campus Policing Community Discusses Safety, Security, Comfort, and Responsibility
BRIGID MCCARTHY ‘25 (SHE/HER) CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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nside the Alvarez College Union last Thursday evening, a group of students assembled to protest the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI). As discussions began between protestors and DCI organizers on the third floor, campus police officers arrived on the scene. “Typically we sort of know who’s going to be involved in protests. But the flyers didn’t say who was responsible for it. The whole time, we didn’t really know what was going to happen. So in that case, I called campus police,” Mike Goode ‘83, Director of the Union and of Student Activities, explained. “I said, ‘so we’ve got this thing that might be happening, we really don’t know, because we don’t know who’s behind it or how many people are excited about this.’” A few weeks ago, police officers were in Union for another reason. Oğuzhan Colkesen ‘23 attended Union Board’s ‘Disco Fever’ event at the beginning of the semester, on September 3. While enjoying free pizza with friends, he noticed two police officers looking down from the top floor at all of the students below. “There’s this increased presence on campus,” he insisted. “It felt really weird. And they seemed very out of place. I’ve been here for four years and I’ve never seen something like that before.” When asked to respond to student comments about increasing policing on campus, Campus Police Chief Julian B. Coaxum said “that’s a
good thing.” “With the world that we live in nowadays, we want to be as proactive as possible. We want people to see officers, and to be able to have that comfort to know that we are here supporting the campus,” Coaxum said. “We’ve managed to increase our own in-house staffing, to the point where we don’t have to utilize external, private police anymore. So we’re at the point now, where we’re almost 100% fully staffed for the first time since I’ve been here in almost three years [...] since January of 2020. So [students] probably see more officers on campus because we have more officers working.” Years of prominent police violence have spurred activists—and students—to turn policing into a discussion rather than a definitive, to critically think about the relationship between the police and the community. With a robust register of student Risk Management at events, new precedents for widespread Green-Dot certification, and expanded mental health resources, the role of the police on campus is suddenly contested.
Policing On-Campus
Goode emphasized that campus police, in conjunction with the Student Activities Office and the Title IX Office, function as another campus resource aiming to create ideal environments in and out of the classroom. “I think a lot of these different offices are really all working towards the same thing, which is an educational environment at Davidson that is exceptional,” he said. “We [Student Activities] rely on [campus police]
Parked Davidson Campus Police car. Photo Credit Brigid McCarthy ‘25 for expertise in risk management, assessment, stuff like that.” Outside of campus events, campus police are tasked with a variety of responsibilities. Coaxum explained that a typical day’s work can include anything from medical calls and Residence Life Office (RLO) assistance to drug and alcohol law violations. He also said, however, that since police officers are only employed by Davidson College and function under the state, they enforce “the law, not policy.”
“We assist agencies or offices on campus, like RLO, or the Dean of Students Office, but we as the police department do not enforce college policy,” he said. Interestingly enough, policing is still inextricably linked to college policy, most notably in the form of Patterson Court Council (PCC) event populations. Coaxum clarified that while the campus police department doesn’t utilize external police officers
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Introducing Two Wildcats And Their Service Dogs CLAIRE HAILE ‘25 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER
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alking around Davidson’s campus, it’s common to see dogs, whether they belong to professors, students, or residents of the town. But Ava Smith ‘26 and Rui Rui Bleifuss ‘26 are the first students to use service animals on campus in recent history. Service dogs play an important role for many people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service animal as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” Smith’s dog, Daphne, and Bleifuss’ dog, Yeti, work as mobility assistance dogs. “Daphne is able to pick things up that I’ve dropped. She’s able to offer assistance, like getting up from the floor, getting up from a chair, and walking up stairs. She basically just helps me get around safely,” explained Smith. “When it comes to medical alert, she
monitors muscle spasms, pain flares, and performs what’s called deep pressure therapy on me, which mitigates the symptoms of really painful muscle spasms.” Yeti is also able to perform many tasks for Bleifuss. “I have really bad balance. So I get support from his harness walking around campus or in the classrooms. And if I drop something like keys or my CatCard, he’ll pick them up for me. In the dorm room, he’s there to help pull open things. So we have tags on dresser drawers and cabinets that he can open,” she explained. These are just a few of the many jobs service dogs can perform. Other jobs include support for people with PTSD, support for people with autism, epilepsy alert, and diabetic alert. “Basically, if you can think of it, they can do it,” said Smith. Right now, there are also 16 students with emotional support animals, which play a very different role. “Emotional support animals can be all kinds of species,” explained Beth Bleil, Director of Academic Access and Disability. “They also are not trained. Generally, just by nature of them being a pet or companion,
they’re providing emotional support.” Service dogs, on the other hand, are highly trained from a young age. “An ESA is permitted to be with a student in their residence hall, but they’re really not meant to be in other places on campus other than where animals are allowed,” added Bleil. Due to their protected legal status, service dogs can be anywhere in the general public. Despite all the support they have provided for Smith and Bleifuss, being a student with a service dog comes with challenges, especially in a new environment like college. “There has been kind of a culture shock,” said Bleifuss, “there are a lot of things people don’t know. It’s important not to engage with our dogs in any capacity.” Even making eye contact with service dogs or using a playful voice can be confusing and stressful for the animal, which creates a difficult situation for their handler. Smith and Bleifuss explained the fundamentals of service dog etiquette at an EDU event through the Davidson Disability Alliance. “They’re highly trained, but they are still dogs,” said Smith, “so giving them the respect to allow them to do their job safely
and without distraction is key to their smooth implementation into our lives and your lives. Because there are consequences when you distract the dogs.” Both Smith and Bleifuss emphasize that their dogs are on campus as a tool to support them, not as entertainment for other students. “It should not feel like we’re a walking spectacle,” said Smith. As new Davidson community members, Smith and Bleifuss have encountered unique challenges socially. “We had a really negative experience over orientation,” said Smith. Both women have experienced students asking their dog’s name, or saying hi to their dog, without asking their name or even acknowledging them. “It kind of makes you feel like you’re not a person,” said Smith, “We are full members of this community. Even if I don’t have full ability in my body, I do have the ability to speak with you and be your friend.” “It’s been a lot of seeing me more as my dog than as a person,” added Bleifuss. Both encourage their peers to ask questions
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