Talking Stick - March/April 2009 - 19

is not requested, or it is purposely omitted for a variety of reasons. With this in mind, a number of higher education institutions – prompted also by tragic incidents of campus violence in the past several years – have added background checks to campus security’s risk-mitigating measures. These institutions have decided they can no longer rely solely on prospective wHETHER oR NoT AN students to disclose INSTITuTIoN oR A DEpARTMENT a criminal history. DEcIDES To coNDucT cRIMINAL bAckgRouND cHEckS AS pART of ITS cAMpuS SEcuRITy pLAN, STuDENT SAfETy wILL ALwAyS bE A pRIoRITy. THougH pERfoRMINg bAckgRouND cHEckS IS No guARANTEE THAT RESIDENcE HALLS oR cAMpuS wILL bE SAfER, THEy cAN bE SEEN AS juST oNE MoRE LEVEL of SEcuRITy, oNE MoRE pART of THE SEcuRITy NET INSTITuTIoNS buILD ARouND THEIR STuDENT popuLATIoN. Background checks aren’t a new phenomenon in higher education. They have typically been conducted on graduate students and on those undergraduate students who are entering professional academic programs such as the health professions, law school, medical school, or business school, to name a few. Most recently, some schools have started doing checks on student athletes. Following the 2003 death of a student basketball player at the hands of a teammate, Baylor University in Waco, Texas, began conducting criminal checks on potential student athletes. Currently Saint Augustine’s College, a 1,500-student college in Raleigh, North Carolina, requires all newly admitted students to complete a police record check as part of their admissions procedures. This documentation, which is completed by applicants in conjunction with their hometown police department, verifies the student’s criminal history or lack thereof. The form includes two questions for the law enforcement agency: first, does the applicant have a police record, including minor traffic violations? and second, is the applicant now undergoing court action of any kind? Any affirmative answer requires an explanation, and the document is verified with embossment of the agency’s official seal. Tameka Ferrell, admissions counselor for Saint Augustine’s, notes that of the 650-700 students seeking admission during the fall term typically only one or two will have a criminal history that would keep them from being accepted. “It’s another way of letting you know who is coming to our campus to focus on school work or those who are coming to focus on other things,” Ferrell says. “The checks allow us to admit students who will better represent our institution to the greater public.” Ferrell adds that it’s usually those students with a criminal, or less than flattering, history (or their parents) who have issues with doing the checks. Overall, Ferrell feels that the checks do what they’re supposed to do: provide an added sense of security for students and parents. Due to a few high-profile campus incidents, the University of North Carolina system instituted several policy changes to enhance student safety and security in the past few years. In 2004, the University of North Carolina-Wilmington was faced with two tragedies. On May 4, a freshman female was found dead in her residence hall room. Evidence showed that she had been drugged, raped, and murdered by another student. Only a month later, one student shot and killed another. After investigating the incidents, it was found that both students had criminal records, but neither had disclosed this information in full on their admissions applications. Brad Reid, director of housing and residence life at UNC-Wilmington, still recalls the incident and he supports the criminal background checks for students because, “It makes sense to look at these types of variables to ensure safety.” Shortly after these incidents, a systemwide safety task force was created to review admission processes on UNC’s 16 campuses. Recommendations from the task force led to six March + april 2009 1

Talking Stick - March/April 2009

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