In an ideal world, students paying several thousands of dollars to go to college would be kept up to date by said college on everything happening on campus. While student emails get flooded with banquet reminders, first-year activity notices, movies on the football field — and let’s not forget alumni donations — we are still kept in the dark when it comes to threatening on-campus incidents.
Recently a student in Flynn hall was injured by a roommate’s accidental firearm discharge. A short statement was released on the Newsroom shortly after the accident. The president said nothing. The university has kept quiet about it ever since, blatantly dodging the fact that a firearm managed to go unnoticed on a weapon-free campus, and that students all over St. Thomas are still wondering what is going on. Apparently keeping this quiet was more important.
This was not the first incident of this nature. Earlier this academic year a sexual assault was misreported and, had it not been for a group of students speaking up, the student body would have known nothing.
Walking the fine line between maintaining a victim’s privacy and keeping the student body informed is tricky. What should not be acceptable, however, is that a university’s students be kept confused in the face of campus disruptions for the sake of good public relations.
The University of St. Thomas’ first obligation is to its students and their families. When dangerous and out of the ordinary situations occur on campus, the university should be preoccupied with keeping campus safe and its inhabitants informed, rather than being so unclear for fear of bad publicity. After all, this should be a cradle of growth and education, not a money-hoarding business.
Ultimately, I am disappointed with the University of St. Thomas’ lack of transparency when dealing with issues of safety that could taint its reputation, because the message this approach sends to students is one of greater care for facades than for their well-being.
Letizia Mariani can be reached at mari8259@stthomas.edu