Several student leaders and University officials will come together within the next few weeks as part of a task force meant to address past safety concerns and the future reestablishment of late-night fundraising parties held at Talley Student Center.
Deb Luckadoo, co-chair of the task force and Talley Student Center activities director, said she hopes incidents like the stabbing in the fall of 2006 can be prevented by having sponsoring student groups strictly adhere to procedural guidelines, which include working out security measures with Campus Police three weeks before an event.
“Some tweaking of procedure needs to take place,” Luckadoo said. “Our goal is to get things worked out as soon as we possibly can.”
According to James Hankins, a senior in political science, the task force was supposed to meet for the first time over the summer, but the meeting was delayed when the former chair, Don Patty, left to take a position in the College of Natural Resources.
“We were told that the task force had to find a new chair, and it was not until the end of the summer that we found out the new chair was Deb Luckadoo,” Hankins said. “We were confused as to why it took so long to find a new chair.”
Luckadoo said the task force will by made up of representatives from University administration, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the Black Students Board, graduate student advisers, Greek organizations and Campus Police.
“It is important that we provide nonalcoholic event opportunities for students that are on campus,” Luckadoo said. “The student center is the natural place for these events to occur.”
All Greek Council President Jaron Hinton, a senior in biological sciences, said he has been campaigning adamantly for the reestablishment of the late-night parties and that these events are a tradition on campus and a vital source of funding for student organizations.
“We are dependent on these events, because apart from stepping, it is the fastest way to raise money,” Hinton said. “It is a mutual investment between us and the University; they count on us to provide a good time, and we depend on them to help us raise money for our organization.”
Student Body President Bobby Mills, a junior in political science and economics, said he plans on taking part in the task force and hopes to move proceedings forward as quickly as possible.
“I want to expedite this committee as fast as possible,” Mills said. “We need to be pragmatic about this.”
Student Body Treasurer David Foxx, a senior in political science, said he has also been advocating the speedy resumption of these events because it is important that student groups have the funding they need.
“The student leaders dealing with this are ready to get the ball rolling,” Foxx said. “We want the administration to be partners with us to get these parties going again.”
Luckadoo said although she would like to see things move quickly, it is not likely that the events will be reestablished as soon as student advocates would like.
“Unfortunately, there are no available dates this semester for one of these parties,” Luckadoo said. “This may be frustrating for students, but in the larger sense, it is good for everyone because it give us some time to let all the student organizations know what the procedures are.”
Hinton said he and his Fraternity are willing to cooperate fully with the task force, and he hopes to have open communication between all groups so that an agreement can be easily made.
“My chapter is willing to fully cooperate and come to some sort of an agreement with the task force,” Hinton said. “We need to know what steps we need to take so that things progress quickly.”
