SGA FORUM

Concerns over unprofessional police officers, lack of safety, on-campus crime and inadequate parking were the hot topics at the Student Government Association’s “Enough is Enough” forum.
“What you all (Southern University Police Department) are trying to do is to turn the blame for the problems that happens on campus on us,” said Wayne “Uncle Buck” Hayden, SGA director of public relations. “S.U.P.D. puts so much priority on patrolling the back of campus that no one was at White Hall when two students were robbed at gunpoint,” said Hayden.
Hayden’s story was not an isolated case.
Student after student voiced their experiences from cars being broken into, personal belongings being stolen, unethical behavior and improper procedure on the part of certain officers on the force.
“Over the summer six of the cheerleaders’ cars were broken into in the parking lot of Bethune Hall and it took an hour and a half for an officer to come and investigate the incident,” said Nina Moch, Sophomore Class President. “The worst part is that when I went to check on the investigation my file was not there.”
Dale Flowers, Chief of Police and Kevin Johnson, director of traffic and parking was on hand to listen and try to work with students on ways to improve police-student relations.
“Most crimes committed on this campus are done by students who attend the university,” said Flowers. “We need students to assist us in reporting these incidents so that we can do a better job protecting them.”
“Many of the police officers do not know how to talk to students and they always have an attitude. I am a Southern University student and I am tired of being harassed at the checkpoint,” said ShaunAnthony Williams, a senior music performance major from Aurora, Ill.
Restricted visitation rights also stirred up the debate questioning maturity levels and moral conduct between students and Robert Bennett, director of student life.
“I don’t understand why Southern is always late on catching on things that are going on at every other school,” said Mary Sims, SGA. vice president. “Visitation should not only be on certain weekends designated by the university.”
“There are some students who don’t know what visitation rights are. They are trying to legalize other activities, said Bennett. “If you look at other universities with visitation, there is an extremely high number of cases of rape and sexual assault.”
“I am 20 years old and my momma is in Beaumont, Texas and she should not have to see ‘unauthorized visitation’ on my record if I decided to watch a movie with a guy,” said Freshman Shanika Robinson, a theatre arts major from Beaumont, Texas.
Students also questioned university officials on issues dealing with campus dining and living conditions.
“We will try expand our menu options to cater to more students,” said Paul Butler from Food Service. “We are also looking into options in providing students with more money on their meal cards to use in the Jaguar Express.”
“Many of us are complaining about poor living conditions but we fail to take care of what we have. How can we expect things to improve if we continue to tear it up?” said LeAndrea Humphrey, a senior psychology major from Shreveport.
“Enough is Enough” is this semester’s first forum that students can address their grievances to key university officials.
Despite the many problems that were brought up in the forum, mediator SGA President Avery Wilson felt that some progress was made.
“Through this forum we know that we can expect that construction on Harding Blvd. should be completed this fall, SGA can set up a panel with SUPD to improve relations, students can submit recipes to campus dining, more parking will be available to residents of Totty Hall, and more meal plan options will be available in August,” said Wilson. “It is up to us to make sure that these promises are fulfilled.