President Hogan: Despite tragedy, UConn must remain open campus

Since the stabbing death of University of Connecticut student and football team member Jasper Howard on Oct. 18, administration and key staff have been studying what, if anything, should be done to make campus more secure, UConn President Michael Hogan reported to the UConn Board of Trustees at the Nov. 5 meeting.

One option that has been ruled out, Hogan said, is closing the campus to non-students.

“As we do for every emergency that occurs, our response team meets and examines details regarding what transpired… assessing every step we took,” Hogan said during his president’s report.

Hogan said he and other UConn officials have been besieged with requests to increase security on campus. Some have called for “drastic” changes,” including banning non-students, installing gates and fences and using metal detectors in university buildings, he said.

However, Hogan said, UConn is a public institution and so, the board cannot close the campus to the public.

“UConn is a public land-grant university with a mandated public-service mission,” he said. “That means that we should and must provide programming for citizens across the region.”

It is because of this public mission that non-students may attend lectures, performances, athletic events, seminars and cultural and social events.

He added that administrators, staff and police will continue to review existing practices. UConn’s emergency response team will report back to trustees with any new procedures or actions that might be under consideration, he said.

The next trustees meeting is scheduled for Jan. 26 on the Storrs campus.

Hogan also said there is a larger issue to consider, and that is the acceptance of everyday violence. “We would, I think, be somewhat mistaken to ignore the fact that we do live in a society that seems to tolerate violence more than we, at UConn, find acceptable,” he said. “While hiring more police, building taller fences and installing metal detectors might be reaction to the phenomena, they are not solutions to a culture that accepts violence.”

Jasper Howard, 20, of Miami, was stabbed outside the Student Union in the early hours of Oct. 18. He was attending a university-sponsored dance when a fire alarm was activated, and the building was evacuated. Outside, there was an altercation between a group of students and non-students and Howard was stabbed. He died of a single knife wound to the abdomen and his death was ruled a homicide by the state’s office of the chief medical examiner.

At the homecoming weekend event, there were several university police assigned to work the event and private security also patrolled the party.

UConn Police recently arrested suspects in connection with the murder.

Note: A campus memorial service for Jasper Howard is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. It is open to the public.

Posted Nov. 9, 2009

[Originally published in The Chronicle. This version edited by HTNP.com Editor. Story reprinted by permission.]