With 35 on campus robberies reported in the past three years, many students wonder what their rights are for self-defense against crime.
During the 2014-15 academic year, one student felt their right to protect themselves was severely hindered. The student, who has asked to remain anonymous, had their pocket knife confiscated and was placed on housing probation, later reduced to warning without repercussions, as punishment.
“People knew that I had it and would come to my room often to use it for all sorts of purposes. It was always used as a tool and would never be used as a weapon unless in self-defense. We had a murder in the Kroger parking lot that year so it was comforting to have it there but again, that’s not the main reason I carried it,” the student stated.
The issue arose when the student received conflicting statements from members of residence life and their own RA.
“I asked the RA about the rule and told her I simply wanted to know. After looking up the rule in the handbook in front of me, we agreed that there was no such rule in the book on knives, and the weapons policy did not define a weapon beyond “explosives, chemicals, firearms, or other weapons”.”
“The next day I was told by my roommate to go down and talk to her. She said she verified the rule with her supervisor, the AD, and she told the RA that we had weapons on campus and to confiscate them and call the police.”
As the student mentioned, this confusion comes from the language regarding weapons on campus found in the student handbook.
Capital University’s student handbook outlines their policy on weapons as follows, “It is the policy of Capital University to prohibit the possession or use of any weapons, ammunition, fireworks, explosives, or dangerous chemicals on campus (37 of student handbook).
Possession, storage or use of any firearm or weapon is not allowed in any residential property (60 of student handbook).”
While the university has the legal right to ban weapons from campus, the language is very unclear and leaves the definition of “weapons” to the discretion of anyone enforcing the policy.
According to the student, Jon Greyer, Assistant Director of Residential Life, stated that kitchen knives are permitted in the commons and not considered weapons, which would also conflict with the policy in the handbook and the manner in which it was enforced upon the student.
The student shared their frustration and pointed out that the incident is only part of a larger problem.
“There is a different interpretation of the invisible rule of the handbook between actual Police Departments, Public Safety, Student Government, and Residential Life. No one knows what the actual rule is so they govern it with their own opinions and biases.”
While pocket knives are not permitted on campus, there are still many other valid options when it comes to self-defense. During the 2016 Spring Semester, a self-defense class will be offered.
The class will be called “Fight Back” and will be held on Mondays from 3-5pm. It will be assigned one credit hour, featuring instruction from the owner and Chief Instructor of the New Albany Dynamic Self-Defense School, Scott Mulhollen. Mulhollen also currently holds a 5th Degree Black Belt in Dynamic Self-Defense and is a certified Master Instructor.
The first hour will be self-defense and the second hour will be discussions on various topics including: masculinity studies, rape myths, and LGBTQ-specific assaults.
Sarah Nist, Rachel Comi, and Kelsey Pinckard are organizing this class as part of their capstone/senior project.
“We are all very passionate about changing the procedures for victims of sexual assault, as well as increasing programs to prevent assault on college campuses. With 1 out of the 5 women being assaulted in college and only 15% of these cases being reported, there is an obvious need for change in the policies for sexual assault on college campuses,” Pinckard stated.
