Town hall confronts concerns

Dean of Students hosts speaker panel

The Dean of Students Office invited students to voice their concerns and complaints at the biannual Town Hall meeting Wednesday, Feb. 25.

This semester’s Town Hall meeting was in DeMoss Hall 1105, where an audience of students took the opportunity to ask a panel anything they wanted about life at Liberty. Robert Mullen, dean of students, moderated the seven-person panel.

Mullen introduced himself to each person who walked in the room, asking about their majors and career goals. As the moderator, he began the meeting by giving away eight of the 16 prizes by drawing names. The prizes included gift certificates to Zaxby’s, The White Hart, Bloom and Wasabi. The remaining eight prizes were given at the end.
“The purpose (of this meeting) is not just to win prizes, but to hear from the panel,” Mullen said.

Quincy Thompson, Student Government Association (SGA) president, reviewed some of the issues discussed in the last Town Hall meeting. He said some on-campus students experienced trouble opening their mailboxes. If students still experience this issue, Thompson said they could contact Liberty Postal Services.

Another issue discussed in the last meeting was R-rated movies. Thompson said there is now a process to request approval of a movie that is rated R, but there is not a list of approved R-rated movies.

Students asked questions about a variety of topics ranging from campus Wi-Fi to rumors about Convocation schedules. Two dominating topics of the meeting’s discussion were campus safety and bus schedules.

One student asked about the role of students with a conceal carry license if a live-shooter emergency happened on campus.

“Is there any way LUPD can come up with a plan on how to instruct students on what to do if there were ever a shooter incident?” the student asked. “It would be helpful and safe to actually instill that.”

Mullen said the conceal carry licenses are not about campus security.

“It’s more about freedom,” Mullen said. “There is a plan if something like that were to take place.”

LUPD Chief Col. Richard Hinkley could not attend the meeting, as LUPD was monitoring the weather to make a decision about when Liberty should open the next morning.
Some students asked if there were safety precautions in the event of an emergency during Convocation.

Dustin DuBose, director of student leadership, said the best thing is always for people to stay calm and move toward the nearest exit. He said that if an emergency happens, students should take directions from the stage about whether to stay seated or leave the building.

“Liberty University Police Department has a plan in place if there were a disturbance,” Mullen said. “But it’s somewhat the nature of our culture whether you go to a basketball game or the mall. Use good,common sense.”

Students also brought Liberty transit issues to the panel’s attention.

“There are no weekend buses for any of the apartments,” said one off-campus student. He said he could not fully utilize his commuter meal plan, take advantage of the new Jerry Falwell Library or participate in some campus events and social activities with the current bus schedule.

“I really appreciate the LU service throughout the week,” the student said. “But we could definitely use it during the weekends.”

An on-campus student said that because there is no bus stop at the square on East Campus, most students walk from East Campus to DeMoss Hall for class.

After a student asked if it were possible for a bus to exclusively drive to and from the Annex, Mullen said that a representative from LU transit will be invited to the next meeting.

“We’re going to have LU transit meeting next time,” Mullen said, jokingly.

A student living in a South Campus dorm asked about the status bill previously proposed, which would return bus service to South Campus.

Thompson said the bill passed all the way through SGA, and now it is in the hands of the administration.

“There are talks to get the (busses) back there,” Thompson said.

One of the last issues was about commuter meal plans. One student asked about involving more options at Green Hall in the meal plans for commuter students.
“It has changed since last year, and I’m grateful for the different tiers to choose from,” the student said.

The panelists did not answer every question, but instead took notes to pass on to the appropriate department.

Students with questions or concerns about life at Liberty can contact SGA at sga@liberty.edu or the Dean of Students Office at deanofstudents@liberty.edu.

HOOSIER is a news reporter.