The narrative covering the events of Fountain Avenue is currently being finalized. The narrative was compiled this summer by a working group that included WSA President Mike Pernick and several members of the school administration. It is based on the Public Safety Report, Public Safety video, written student accounts and the Middletown Police Report. This final draft will be reviewed by President Michael Roth and then hopefully released to the Wesleyan community to give a clear and verifiable picture of what occurred that night. I feel very strongly about policy changes, not only as the Senior Class President, but also because my closest friends were directly involved.
I was present the night of Fountain Avenue and I stayed awake that night, helping students file police reports at the station and waiting for my close friends to be released from the station. That night on Fountain Avenue, Public Safety took a non-violent situation, and responded by outsourcing their problem to the police who used violent means in the form of tear gas, pepper spray balls, tasers and dogs.
That night I saw the Wesleyan student body come together. Michael Roth, Mike Pernick and WSA Vice-President Saul Carlin all arrived soon after the police left. Students gave rides all night between campus and the Middletown Police station to witnesses and friends of students that were arrested. Although the Middletown Police acted disrespectfully and were reluctant to give students pens and forms to fill out reports, Wesleyan students remained civil. Another student went and bought coffee and doughnuts for students filling out reports and waiting for their friends to be released from custody. Michael Roth came to the station briefly and spoke to students. At the station that night, I witnessed a Wesleyan Public Safety officer enter the front office of the Middletown Police station, shake hands and laugh with the police officers as students watched.
Public Safety has changed in the past two years. The amount of disciplinary referrals given by Public Safety has tripled in the past two years. My brother graduated from Wesleyan in 1998. He and all other alumni I have spoken with are appalled by the change in Public Safety’s behavior and role in campus life. If you go to the Public Safety Website, their statistics neglect disciplinary referrals for noise complaints. I met with Director of Public Safety Dave Meyer last year when I began to notice the sudden increase in disciplinary referrals and the Public Safety crackdown on student parties. He denied the allegations and stated there were no policy changes. Dave Meyer believes that Public Safety was completely in line the night of Fountain Avenue. That is a major problem if the head of our Public Safety neglects to see why the police should never have been called in the first place. The arrest of five students, a student tasered multiple times and a student receiving staples in his skull due to an attack from a police dog all could have been avoided.
Policy must change. The student/Public Safety relationship is torn. Public Safety should be a transparent institution. I hope all Wesleyan students, especially underclassmen, will read the report and voice themselves through Wespeaks, e-mails to deans and communication with Wesleyan alumni. Otherwise, Wesleyan further loses a crucial aspect of student life. On Sept. 23 at 4:30 p.m. in Usdan 108, there will be an open forum for school policy changes concerning student gatherings.
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