UM Administration Hosts Public Forum on the Heels of Weekend Rallies

By Anna Grace Usery
Editor-in-Chief
anna.grace.usery@hottytoddy.com

The University of Mississippi administration hosted a community discussion Wednesday, Feb. 20 in the Union ballroom to clarify plans and address safety concerns ahead of upcoming protests hosted on and off campus.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Brandi LaBanc opened up the forum by giving a schedule of the week’s planned events. Photo by Talbert Toole.

Answering questions and facilitating discussion for the administration was Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Brandi LaBanc, Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Community Engagement Katrina Caldwell and General Counsel Erica McKinley. Chief Ray Hawkins from the University Police Department also answered questions from audience members. Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks was not in attendance, McKinley clarified because he was attending the Institutions of Higher Learning’s monthly meeting in Jackson.

Topics of discussion included university and state policies surrounding weapons, UPD safety measures for the upcoming rallies and what proactive, educational steps will be taken after the conclusion of this weekend’s events.

“Let me assure you we have not invited these groups to campus,” LaBanc said. “They do not align with our institutional values.”

McKinley agreed and said the next message coming from University Communications will begin with “We as a university denounce hate, bigotry and racism.” No specific date was given on when the message will be sent.

UPD Chief Ray Hawkins and UM General Counsel Erica McKinley answer questions from the audience during Wednesday’s public forum. Photo by Talbert Toole.

After confusion spread on campus about the appearance of a newly updated weapons policy to the Ole Miss website, one audience member asked the administration to clarify the university’s policy about weapons on campus.

The University of Mississippi Weapons policy states under no circumstances are faculty, staff or students allowed to be in possession of a gun. Mississippi is one of the most liberal policies relating to open carry, those of which extend to Lafayette County, according to McKinley. Because the sidewalks on campus constitute as city property, external groups can still carry if they possess the enhanced carry permit. Without that enhanced permit, it is a felony to bring a weapon on campus, per the policy.

Possessing an enhanced carry permit means a citizen is able to carry on his or her person but is not able to “brandish it, threaten with it or shoot it,” McKinley said.

The policy does state that possession of a firearm or weapon is also prohibited in locations dubbed “non-public/sensitive” areas by applicable federal law including academic buildings, administrative offices, athletic facilities, residence halls and fraternities and sororities, to name a few.

UPD’s Boundaries

“On Saturday we will have two areas with officers checking people (for weapons) going into the area,” Hawkins said. “We will be checking if it is in violation or not. Whatever the law implies is how we will address it.”

Acknowledging the route protestors plan to take, Hawkins clarified the checkpoints will not be at the arches — the imaginary line denoting the separation from city to campus — but will be located somewhere “on the heart of campus.”

Hawkins said UPD has “taken the necessary steps that when (the rallies) happen you’ll be safe.”

Hawkins and his staff looked to local and state agencies to draw from their experiences dealing with similar situations, he said. They will have one area on the Circle secure for protestors and one for counter-protestors.

“Those spaces are provided far enough apart where you may be able to hear one another, but you won’t (be close enough) for physical exchange,” Hawkins said.

However, one of the areas could potentially be unoccupied. At the forum, LaBanc announced counter-protestors will be organizing at the Jackson Avenue Center on Saturday instead of their original location at the Circle.

Amending the Weapons Policy

Ole Miss graduate student Lara Avery asked McKinley if the weapons policy could be amended to reflect the eradication of all weapons on campus.

“You raised a question I not only asked as general counsel but as a mother,” McKinley said. “I wasn’t in the position for 10 minutes when the gun issue hit my desk. There is a way to change laws, but the power doesn’t sit with us.”

One audience member, associated with the Students Against Social Injustice (SASI) organization, asked if UPD would be checking for weapons recently stolen from a local pawn shop.

Hawkins said he will consult with the Oxford Police Department to learn the make of the guns, but whatever weapon is brought on campus “we will address it and uphold the laws.”

Secretary of SASI, Em Gill, who is helping to facilitate a live demonstration called “Students Over Statues”—a protest of “Confederate glorification”—on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. at Lamar Hall asked if the UM administration had any intention to take the Confederate statue down that resides at the start of the Circle.

McKinley reiterated that a significant portion of the administration was not at the forum to answer that question.

“I can’t answer it for them,” she said. “But they will know you posed the question.”

As for other campus events unaffiliated with the rallies, LaBanc said they will continue as planned. Programs will end at 1 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. and several event locations have been amended to station everything to the west side of campus.

Caldwell said the best way to stay abreast of the latest news concerning this weekend’s events is to check for messages coming from University Communications on olemiss.edu/updates. She also encouraged students to think of programming going forward.

“This conversation is something my staff and I are committed to,” she said.

Tomorrow, the Black Student Union, the UM Gospel Choir, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and others are hosting a Black History Month March to protest the Confederate symbols on campus.