De'Zaria LucasTwo-and-a-half weeks after an unauthorized safety alert was released by the dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, N.C. Central University’s administration and police department has offered little explanation about the alert banning former faculty member, Jason Bowers.
Despite repeated attempts to contact university officials, the Campus Echo hasn’t received a statement.
The email alert raised questions about safety and whether university protocols were violated.
In September, University Police Chief Damon Williams confirmed to the Campus Echo that the alert should have been sent by the police department and that the faculty member was not officially banned from campus. The sender of the email did not follow the university’s protocol when reporting threats to the campus.
“I was mostly confused on who this man was and what he did so bad that would cause him to be banned from campus,” Sa’nya Providence, a junior mass communication student, said.
Williams was unavailable to comment after scheduling an interview with the Campus Echo on Oct. 6. The Campus Echo scheduled another interview with Williams to get updates on Bowers’ barring status.
Minutes before the Campus Echo’s scheduled interview, Shermia Clark-Hart, executive assistant of the chief of police, said that Williams was instructed not to share any information about the situation and directed the Campus Echo to “administration.”
Bowers now appears on NCCU’s barred list, though he was not on the list in September when the email was sent. The Campus Echo reached out to the communications office on Sept. 23 to confirm Bowers’ barred status.
Stephen Fusi, NCCU’s chief brand officer said that he imagined that the barring list “should be updated by now.”
On Oct. 6, the Campus Echo recontacted Fusi via email about Bowers’ absence on the barring list and received his response on Oct. 8.
“Bowers has been notified of his status of being barred from campus,” Fusi said in the email. “The act of barring someone from campus is not contingent on if or how an alert is issued to the campus community.”
According to the university’s guidelines, the decision to bar someone from the campus, and making them subject to arrest for trespassing, goes through a threat assessment procedure. The procedure includes assessing potential threats to and around the campus to keep the campus community safe.
The Campus Echo asked Fusi for further clarification. Despite multiple requests for clarification on the process of barring someone from campus, the Campus Echo received no response.
EDITORS’ NOTE: The headline has been modified for clarity.
