Sharing ideas

Meeting allows students to have a voice

Liberty University students had the chance to voice their opinions about on and off-campus concerns during a town hall meeting hosted by Liberty’s Dean of Students Robert Mullen Tuesday, Nov. 10 in DeMoss Hall.

The meeting, which is held once a semester, served as a time for students to speak with administration from a variety of departments in an effort to find solutions to certain campus issues.

Topics discussed during the meeting included sexual assault and tightened security on Liberty’s campus, transit schedules, curfew, recycling and the commonly-asked question of whether double swipes will return to Liberty’s meal plan.

The 10 panelists consisted of representatives from Student Affairs, Liberty University Police Department (LUPD), Transit Services, Sodexo, Office of Student Leadership, Office of Student Conduct, Office of Student Housing and the Center for Multicultural Enrichment.

Student Body President Quincy Thompson gave an overview of issues discussed in the last town hall meeting and the steps taken to resolve former issues.

Topics from the last town hall meeting included restrictions on students watching R-rated movies, which is no longer a rule due to the changes in the Liberty Way.

Another subject mentioned was mailbox security. According to Thompson, many students were concerned other people could easily break into their mailboxes. Since then, Thompson explained security cameras have been installed in mail kiosks and improvements on locks are being discussed.

During the meeting, one student asked Chief of Police Colonel Richard Hinkley if Liberty has considered installing a Blue Light Alarm System on campus.

A Blue Light Alarm System is a series of emergency alarm stations strategically placed throughout the campus to provide access to assistance for anyone in distress. By pressing the blue button, a student would be able to get in direct contact with LUPD to notify them of the emergency.

“We’ve looked at Blue Lights … off and on since the 1990s,” Hinkley said. “What we found at other colleges and universities is they are seldom used, and they are used chiefly for a prank.”

Hinkley said most people today have cell phones, and they need to learn how to use it in emergency situations. He suggested having an emergency number ready to use,even if that number is as simple as 911.

“Have that cell phone in your hand, press the button and get to people,” Hinkley said. “The problem (with Blue Light) is if someone is chasing you … or if there is someone after you, (when you go) to a Blue Light, you have to stop and push a button and hope that somebody doesn’t catch you. Whereas with a cell phone, you immediately have that call (and could be) running to a building or to another group of people.”

Another student said there are very few recycling bins around campus, and those on campus seem to be in random places. He pointed out that as the world’s largest Christian university, he feels Liberty should be striving to lead the way in green college campuses in terms of recycling.

“There was a time when we had recycling bins in every hall (on campus), the problem (was) that students weren’t using them correctly,” Director of Student Leadership Dustin DuBose said. “They were throwing trash in (the bins) because they didn’t want to take it all the way to the dumpster.”

DuBose said this became a big problem for Resident Assistants and recycling staff who had to deal with the misuse of the recycling bins. However, DuBose assured students the recycling staff is consistently searching for ways that recycling issues can be improved.

Also discussed in the meeting was the return of double meal swipes for the meal plan.

According to Director of Food Operations Louis Cambeletta, students were able to use double meal swipes in previous years due to a glitch in the Information Technology (IT) system. Once IT resolved that problem, students asked to have the option to use two meal swipes at once again.

“We are working with IT, but for whatever reason, we cannot do double swipes right now,” Cambeletta said. “It’s all about an IT issue. The system will not allow us to put in multiple meal plans. … In order to get double swipes we would have to create another meal plan.”

According to Mullen, administration is taking feedback and input from all students and can see students have been very responsive in following the Liberty Way and the new changes that have been made. However, Mullen said there are always going to be some rules that stay in place that students are required to follow.

“Bottom line is, at the end of the day, because we are a large community, we just have to make some general rules,” Mullen said. “Some of the rules you’re just going to have to go with because that’s where you are in this community at this time.”

If students have specific questions throughout the school year, they can email deanofstudents@liberty.edu.

BUNNER is a news reporter.