Letters to the Editor

Comments

1. Sondra Murphy says:

   February 3, 2012 at 11:30 am

   To President Mary Grant, the Trustees, and the current Students at my Alma Mater:

   I know a lot can change in four years, but I highly doubt that both the atmosphere and the student demographic at MCLA have changed enough to warrant Public Safety bearing arms.

   When I attended MCLA (Class of 2008), it was one of the most low-key places I had ever been to: provided the Red Sox hadn’t won the World Series, and you stayed off of Blackinton Street on a Saturday night. MCLA always had a safe and peaceful quality about it, which is why I chose the school in the first place. MCLA was the only campus I have visited where I could walk around at night and not be afraid for well-being.

   The decision for Public Safety to carry guns is a decision to alter the entire atmosphere of this small college. I see gun-toting Public Safety Officers as a threat, and I’m sure the current students will too. I suspect that recent “Occupy” events, such as the one at UC Davis, may have changed the way the Trustees see Campus Safety, but MCLA is not UC Davis. With a difference of about 23,000 students, MCLA hardly has the need for guns. Officers at UC Davis are not armed, incidentally. And, as UC Davis has demonstrated, there isn’t much that can’t be solved with a can of pepper spray…

   I know MCLA aspires to grow and change, and I can appreciate that. A good College should make advancements to keep up with the times, (the Campus Center remodel is beautiful, by the way) but I cannot accept that MCLA needs the presence of guns. If I were a current student, you better believe I would be out there with the other 10 students protesting the Trustees’ decision.

   I am disappointed in you, Trustees, and I do hope you reconsider. Please don’t turn my Alma Mater into something it’s not.

   Respectfully,
   Sondra J.B. Murphy
   Class of 2008