By MiKenna Williams, Tiara Bryant, Amber Berry and Preston Derrick
A petition by Texas Tech faculty and staff is asking President M. Duane Nellis and the university’s Board of Regents to declare all classrooms and faculty offices gun-free zones when the so-called Campus Carry law goes into effect next fall.
At the time of this article’s publication, 806 supporters had signed the petition. It was started a week ago by Roger Landes, a professor of practice in the School of Music.
Holders of concealed handgun licenses will be able to bring loaded guns to Texas public campuses starting Aug. 1, 2016. The recently signed into law Senate Bill 11 allows each university to designate gun-free zones, but not to ban guns throughout an entire campus.
“This is a violation of academic freedom, a violation of the university’s fundamental educational commitment to open discourse, and a violation of the state’s responsibility to its citizens,” said Christopher J. Smith, a Tech professor of musicology, in the text of the petition.
The petition further argues that Campus Carry is discriminatory for two reasons—first, because it is “only available to the 53% of students who are 21 years or older,” excluding 18-20-year-old students from their right to self-protection, and second, because it applies only to public institutions, excluding private ones.
Some of the strong opinions on the new law are likely to be aired not only on Change.org, but also in an open forum tomorrow. Tech’s Campus Carry Task Force is hosting the event for faculty, staff and students from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Allen Theatre in the Student Union Building. The forum will be streamed live at www.ttu.edu/livestream.
Five focus groups with university stakeholders will follow tomorrow’s event. They are scheduled from Oct. 29 through Nov. 10.
Tech students remain divided about the benefits and drawbacks of the new law. Maureen Sharp, a sophomore psychology major from Oklahoma, favors it. She said the new policy will make Texas Tech a safer campus.
“If a shooter knows that people on campus are carrying guns, they are less likely to attempt a school shooting,” she said.
Xavier Jones, a junior finance major from from Dallas, Texas, opposes the law. He said campus carry will put students, faculty and staff on edge while on campus because it is hard to know who has a concealed handgun license and how he or she may be feeling on any given day.
“Being in college can be very stressful, and I do not want someone’s bad day to be taken out on me or anyone else,” Jones said.
This argument is certainly not new. Tech’s new Campus Carry website, unrolled last week, contains a link to a list of 29 common arguments against the new law.
Tech’s Chancellor Robert Duncan stated in his blog that the “850,000 Texas CHL holders are by and large the most law-abiding group of people in the state.”
Holton Westbrook, president of Tech’s Student Government Association, said one of the goals of the current information-gathering effort is to find places on campus where students are able to carry their concealed handguns, but still feel a sense of safety.
“For the most part, it shouldn’t affect the students at all,” Westbrook said. “In certain areas like counseling centers and residence halls are places with higher concerns than others. I feel that students’ safety still should be there and there should be little to no change in that regard.”
Westbrook says more information would make the transition easier.
“If we aren’t able to be educated, then this could possibly be hazardous instead of beneficial to campus,” he said.
Within the SGA, opinions on Campus Carry are not uniform either.
“It makes me feel a little less safe knowing someone next to me in class could be carrying a gun, which takes away from the learning environment,” said Joseph Oti-Nimoh, a junior SGA student assistant. “To me, the goal is to prevent death from occurring and allowing the increase of possession of a deadly weapon on campus doesn’t help that.”
Amber Yanez, internal vice president of the SGA, said that although Campus Carry is controversial, she supports it for the safety of the people on the Texas Tech campus.
“I support how the Campus Carry law was worded in that universities can have jurisdiction on where it’s OK to have concealed carry and where it’s not,” Yanez said. “And just as long as many people at Texas Tech feel safe, then I’m fine with it.”
At the University of Texas at Austin, students and faculty appear more united in their disapproval of Campus Carry.
Bryan Jones, a professor of government, is a proud gun owner and a former member of the National Rifle Association. However, he said “there are places where guns do not belong … including university campuses.”
To protest Campus Carry, some UT-Austin students are planning to openly carry sex toys instead of guns.Though the actual protest isn’t set to take place until Aug. 24, 2016, a handful of students have been seen around campus with visible sex toys attached to their backpacks.
“The state of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms,” says Jessica Jin, the student who initiated the protest, on the event’s Facebook page. “However, it DOES have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence.”
Jones said this is not “the best way to protest” because it is not likely to be taken seriously. However, the initiative has been successful in attracting the attention of national media, including The Washington Post and USA Today.
On Twitter, #CocksNotGlocks has 129 followers.
David Berry, a former UT student and current doctor in Austin, said every law-abiding citizen should be allowed to carry a handgun.
“I personally believe that every person should take personal responsibility and train to use a handgun just as every weekend carpenter should be properly trained how to use a power saw,” he said.
Texas has 38 public universities, 50 public community college districts, nine public health-related universities, three lower-division Lamar state colleges and four institutions within the Texas State Technical College Systems, according to Texas Higher Education Data.
Provost Lawrence Schovanec said Tech has to comply with the law because it applies to all public universities in the state.
“There would be little support from the faculty and staff if it was just here at Texas Tech,” Schovanec said.
Schovanec, who was not willing to express any personal opinion on Campus Carry, said he knows a fellow staff member who would feel safer carrying a handgun.
Added Schovanec: “I will share this with you, I’ve never owned a gun, never had a gun, never will.”
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