Eagle Safety Resolution passed by SGA Senate would allow students to carry pepper spray on campus

Priya Patel

Senior Writer

The Student Government Association (SGA) just passed a new resolution in the Senate to address students’ safety concerns. The resolution will allow students to carry pepper spray on campus and improve campus cameras and blue lights, among other changes. 

The Eagle Safety Resolution, which passed unanimously in the Student Government Association Senate, will now go to the executive board within the next two to three weeks and then straight to administration to see if the bill can become a reality.

The resolution not only asks for the pepper spray to be allowed, it also addresses a lot of safety concerns around campus. To name a few, the resolution proposes increasing the number of security cameras, fixing old blue lights, implementing more active shooter drills and a “get to know your officers” event for students to “create relations between UMW police and students on campus.”

Junior political science major Joey Zeldin is the SGA community relations committee chair and 2023 SGA senator. Zeldin authored the resolution and was thrilled to see the bill passed.

“We are just really excited for this bill to get to [administration], and we really hope that they are able to make it a reality!” Zeldin said. “We’ve especially wanted pepper spray to be something students are able to carry because the harsh reality is that there are creepy and horrible people in the world, and our students, especially our female students, should have a means to protect themselves against these awful people.”

At SGA’s recent tabling events, students were given the opportunity to voice any concerns they have about any aspect of campus life. Students were also shown how to send questions, comments and concerns to SGA through an anonymous online form.

At the three of SGA’s tabling events that have happened so far, students have brought up a range of issues, from music students not being able to perform to resident assistants not getting paid on time. However, what many students have been concerned about these past couple of weeks has been their own safety on campus. 

“The big takeaway for me from what I’ve heard from students, specifically at the tabling in Combs Hall, was people are concerned about their safety and the safety of others,” said Class of 2025 Vice President and SGA Senator Shadwick Yoder. “Many worry about being alone, or being around strangers, especially at parties or at night.”

Yoder believes that the resolution can meet some of those demands from students.

“I believe that it will make actual change that the student body has been demanding, and I am proud to have been a part of the process to make this change happen,” he said.

Zeldin was also happy to hear from students at the event, and he hopes that the resolution can show that SGA is working on students’ concerns.

“I personally hope that the passing of this bill shows that SGA is listening to student concerns and that we are fighting for them!” he said. “We also hope this bill provides a sigh of relief to our community when it is brought to administration, since its job is to make campus more safe and comfortable for students to be on.”

Some of the resolution’s features are aimed at helping students with ongoing safety concerns, such as the University Police’s response to white supremacist stickers and the recent painting of the spirit rock. The resolution proposes “improving student report response time, accessibility, and stressing the importance of reports made by students,” implementing new security measures in campus buildings such as the HCC and “expanding non-bias training with the UMW police department.”

“Students do not feel like the police are doing enough and feel that administration is not responding effectively,” said SGA Secretary Sophia Hobbs, a senior history major. “We have plans to discuss these issues with administration and bring attention to them.”

The SGA officers are happy with the results of the tabling events so far.

“I do believe that this was an effective and successful event,” Yoder said. “We polled a few students and asked them their honest opinions. It is not nearly as many people as would be a good representation, but it is a start.”

For their final Wednesday tabling event in academic buildings, SGA will be in Jepson on Oct. 13. After this, there will still be opportunities to communicate with SGA in person.

“We are going to have multiple tables set up during Homecoming week, but the details for that have not been finalized yet,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs continued, “I want students to know that we are listening to them. We hear their concerns and we are doing our best to bring these issues to administration so we can get some action regarding all the events that have occurred on campus this week.”