The Student Association Senate unanimously passed a resolution Monday urging the University to take steps to protect campus from a potential active shooter.
SA Sen. Sebastain Weinmann, Law-G and a co-sponsor of the resolution, called on the University to install locks or latches used from the inside of a room in the event of an active shooter. The legislation mirrors a resolution passed last month by the Student Bar Association, the law school’s student government body.
Weinmann said that within days of passing the SBA legislation, law students received an email from Emily Hammod, the law school’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, announcing that officials and Associate Vice President of Safety and Security Scott Burnotes will discuss the logistics of adding locks to classroom doors within the law school.
“This bill will further encourage the University to take this not only to the law school specifically, but to the student body at large,” he said.
Darrell Darnell, the former senior associate vice president for safety and security, said in 2018 that GW’s security office regularly trains police and faculty on how to respond in the case of a shooting.
The senate also unanimously passed a resolution calling on the SA to create a special committee that will distribute funds for campus improvement projects. Officials set aside $10 million this summer to spend on enhancements around campus, like improved lighting on the Mount Vernon Campus and an upgraded Marvin Center entrance.
SA Sen. Jake Corsi, CCAS-G and a co-sponsor of the legislation, said the resolution will allow the SA to expedite University changes on campus instead of relying on officials to move along the projects, which he said could take months.
He said the committee should fund infrastructural projects, like replacing broken chairs in Gelman Library.
“We pay way too much money for graffiti all around our campus, dilapidated chairs, crumbling walls, rats,” Corsi said. “Out of our $1.5 million dollar budget, or whatever big number it is, we allocate some of that money to fixing stuff.”
AJ Link, Law-G and a co-sponsor of the resolution, said SA Executive Vice President Amy Martin and SA Sen. George Glass, U-at-Large, oversee purchases by the organization.
The senate also approved Owen Park, who served on the executive board of the Racially and Ethnically Mixed Student Association, as a member of the SA’s diversity and inclusion assembly.
Senators also approved five students to serve as SA vice presidents and eight members of the SA to act as student representatives on Faculty Senate committees.
