Students seek transparency with SGA's safety petition

Student Government Association (SGA) Executives Seth Walsh, Kristin Sanfi lippo and Matt Morefi eld and senior Mike Czopek have created a petition for students to be
notifi ed of security threats off campus in light of two fatal shootings that occurred within one mile of campus last week. The shootings occurred at the Evanston Recreation Center and the Marathon gas station on Montgomery Road a week ago, last Sunday and Tuesday respectively. SGA president Seth Walsh has set a target of 1,500 signatures for the petition, entitled "Xavier University Administration: Be
more transparent about safety concerns in immediate off-campus areas," before sitting down with the university administration. "Once the signatures are reached, we are going to take it to various administrators and push for immediate reform," Walsh said. "We really think we'll get the action [of more readily available information to students]
that we desire." Despite his optimism, Walsh remains
perturbed by the fact that both he and the student body were not made aware of the shootings. "It is shocking to me that Xavier would not notify the student body about situations that happened so close to campus," Walsh said. "It's been over a week now, and Xavier still hasn't made a statement." Assistant Vice President for Audit & Risk Management Jeff Coleman insists that the safety of the students remains a priority and that he fully intends on cooperating with the students of the university to alter
safety notifi cation methods. "Required safety notifi cations and the discretion involved in making them is an ongoing priority for Xavier administrators to insure the safety of students, employees and visitors while on our campus," Coleman said. "The request by some students for increased notifi cation about off-campus crimes is being taken very seriously, and we will work with designated students to review the guidelines." Before press, 605 people have signed the petition. Some of those have made their opinions on the matter known in the comments
section of the web page. "With the amount of technology available today, there should be no reason that we should hear a response about gunshots so late," junior Becky Gallagher said. "It's a necessity to inform students about such issues." To sign the petition, go to http://www.change.
org/petitions/xavier-university-adminstrationbe-more-transparent-about-safety-concerns-inimmediate-
off-campus-areas.