Goucher College issued the following announcement on Nov. 22.
As many in our community travel and prepare for the holiday weekend, we are writing to share another update, following the Hate Crime which occurred last week. Baltimore County Police are continuing to investigate the matter, and we continue to cooperate fully with their investigation. Once again, we encourage anyone with information about this abhorrent incident to come forward to Public Safety, no matter how insignificant y¬our information may seem.
Since this crime occurred, we have worked to support the targeted students through direct outreach, security escorts when desired, offers of room relocations, and assistance in working with the police. We have also dedicated additional Public Safety resources to Heubeck, and we will soon be indefinitely restricting One Card access to only residents of their respective buildings. Residents who wish to have guests from other buildings will need to provide entry for those guests. We are also making plans for the installation of additional security cameras on campus. While the Goucher community was initially resistant to security cameras, we have made substantial progress with camera installations in recent years, as outlined in our Security Camera Policy. Consequently, we now have numerous active cameras on campus.
We understand that there have also been questions within the community regarding what information was shared about this incident, as well as when such information was shared. While we endeavored to be as honest and transparent as possible in our communications, that goal had to be balanced with the need to not jeopardize the police or College investigations, with consideration of the potential negative effects of information on community members, as well as with the commitment to not amplify the hateful message and intentions within this act.
Many have raised questions about potential outcomes, should the individual responsible for this crime be identified. In matters such as this, there are two processes at play: (1) the criminal justice process; and (2) the College’s student conduct process. The Baltimore County Police investigation will lead to potential prosecution through the criminal justice process, which deals with individuals as private citizens. The College’s student conduct process, however, deals with individuals as students and is completely separate and independent of the criminal justice process. Consequently, the College is contracting with external investigative entities, to provide support for our investigation, in preparation for the potential student conduct process. It is possible – and not uncommon – for individuals to be dealt with through both the criminal justice and student conduct processes, and it is also plausible that someone can be subject to the student conduct process, even if criminal justice proceedings do not move forward.
We encourage community members to remain mindful of the impact of this crime on the targeted individuals, other Black community members, minority populations in general, and on our overall campus community. Please offer understanding, support, and empathy to one another, while also remembering to take care of yourselves. Also, there are College employees who have been actively supporting affected students and student organizers, as well as working to ensure community stability, in the midst of this appalling event. We are thankful for those individuals, and ask that you be cognizant of their tireless efforts.
Moving forward, we can make this an opportunity to create and shape the equitable and just community we aspire to truly be at Goucher. Becoming that community requires sustained work by all College constituencies, and we look forward to continuing that work in the coming weeks and months.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Goucher College
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