Students Provide Input to Governor's
Campus Security Task Force
Task Force Encourages E-mail Input From
Missourians
JEFFERSON CITY, June 15, 2007- Gov. Matt Blunt’s
Campus Security Task Force held its second public hearing this week
at Metropolitan Community College's Blue River Campus in Kansas City.
The committee, co-chaired by Mark James, Director of Public Safety
and Dr. Robert Stein, Commissioner of Higher Education, heard from
concerned students and educational faculty on campus safety.
Four students from the University of Missouri-Kansas
City (UMKC) spoke to the committee regarding issues ranging from alerting
students in a time of crisis to the sharing of student information
between education institutions.
“The task force will be making recommendations
involving the lives and daily activities of young adults across the
state so it was vital that they hear perspectives from students,”
James said. “I’m confident that the well articulated ideas
expressed to the group will shape the suggestions presented to Governor
Blunt in August.”
Sean McClain, President of the UMKC Student Government
Association warned the task force to bear in mind students’
freedoms and rights when making their recommendations.
Other UMKC students Jessica Farmer and Tadros Abdelmalek were asked
questions by the task force regarding their expressed views on security,
information and campus violence.
“Student conduct violations should travel with
a student,” Abdelmalek said. “Students often transfer
to other campuses and officials currently have no way to learn about
their backgrounds.”
As a community advisor at UMKC, Deborah Raithel listens
to resident students’ needs and stated the importance of readily
available mental health resources at all hours to provide an outlet
that may mitigate the chance of an incident on campus.
Anyone who missed the public hearing testimonies and
would like to voice an opinion or viewpoint is encouraged to e-mail
adam.hannah@dhe.mo.gov