Students, administrators and campus officials discussed various topics such as sexual assault, alcohol policies, parking and dress code at a town hall meeting in Cone Chapel. The Student Association held the meeting on Tuesday to spark conversation between students and campus leadership.
“The purpose of the town hall meeting was to create an opportunity for students to talk to administrators about issues from different parts of campus, and allow the administrators to hear about those issues that they might not have heard before or to explain why certain rules are in place,” sophomore SA representative Cody Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield represented Aramark on the panel due to his experience working with the SA dining services committee.
Other panel members included director of public safety Craig Russell, deputy director of parking and transportation Wayne Westerholm, President Dr. Bruce McLarty, executive vice president David Collins, director of academic advising Jake Brownfield, director of residence life Kathy Allen, SA president senior Philip Habegger, dean of student life Zach Neal and director of campus life Logan Light.
Common concerns expressed during the meeting included the alcohol policy, open dorm opportunities, dining plan options and chapel.
Junior Zach Abney expressed his concern about the reduction of parking due to upcoming campus renovations. Russell said there is adequate parking to answer for the parking spots being reduced, even though they are not as close to the central buildings as students would like. In regards to adding more parking in closer proximity to buildings, McLarty said there was a decision to keep the center of campus for pedestrians and make the outside of campus for parking.
Junior Dawson Yates used the forum as an opportunity to thank the administration for their hard work and existing policies. As a transfer student, he praised the administration for being one of the best in the country and said Harding has the best parking of any university in the state. Yates said he hopes the morale of students will change after the meeting.
Yates said as students “we all signed up for this” and students should be understanding in regards to tough decisions administrators face each day.
Stubblefield said he was pleased with the discussion and that the attendance of about 75 students exceeded his expectations. He said the questions asked were great and that the responses gave students an opportunity to further the discussion.
“I think this has opened the eyes and ears of the administration to kind of see different problems that maybe they haven’t even thought about,” Stubblefield said. “I think a big change that I hope to see come is communication between students and administration.”
John Stone, assistant professor of business, attended the meeting to show his support for student concerns.
“I think students just need to know that no matter who it is that is working for the university that the staff and faculty are on their side,” Stone said.
