On any college tour, one of the biggest concerns parents have is safety for their student; most teenagers are sent to college with a can of pepper spray and a head full of lectures about never walking alone.
Student safety has been a hot topic on campus, with a reported sexual assault as well as a violent assault in September of this year, and the campus community has been especially concerned with students’ ability to keep themselves safe.
A new policy has been passed this year to allow the possession and use of mace and pepper spray on campus, drafted by Jennie Smith, Dean of Students.
Capital University’s student handbook previously stated that the campus prohibits “the possession or use of any weapons, ammunition, fireworks, explosives or dangerous chemicals” (37 student handbook).
Students have been frustrated in previous years by the fact that they cannot possess simple items such as pocket knives to defend themselves.
Mace and pepper spray are technically not considered to be dangerous chemicals and agents, so they are now allowed on campus.
The benefit of allowing mace and pepper spray on campus is for the sake of self-defense by students, but they are still regarded as a type of weapon that can raise safety concerns.
“You have to take into consideration that if such a device is used inappropriately or to commit a criminal offense, it can lead to a criminal investigation,” Chief Frank Fernandez of Public Safety said.
Since this new policy has gone into effect, however, no cases of inappropriate use of mace or pepper spray have been reported to Fernandez or other officers in the Public Safety department.
Student Government has tried to relay this importance of protecting oneself in their legislation this school year.
“We are going to reevaluate the current university policy in regards to the student self defense,” President Libby Baker said. “We are also going to pursue measures that will equip students with the information and ability to defend themselves and their property if necessary.”
Whether this will cause any further change in the university policy regarding weapons remains to be seen, but the university hopes to make a positive change to make the self-defense options less limited.
The university does promote self-defense by offering combat classes for students, like the Krav Maga class being offered this Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Krav Maga consists of a wide range of fighting techniques and focuses on real-life situations.
This class will emphasize specific counter attacks to use against an assailant, implementing defensive and offensive tactics.
Hopefully students will take advantage of this new policy regarding mace and pepper spray as well as other resources and can find a way to feel safe even if they find the weapons policy to be a limitation.
