2 | September 15, 2010

Opinion The Rambler | www.therambler.org

Discrimination has no place at Wesleyan

other legally-protected status.” be Jewish, confided in me that some These two incidences of discrimi- This discrimination is just despi-
Most people know what discrim- Wesleyan students had called him nation have caused me to look at cable. When we stereotype people,
ination looks like when they see it, derisive names. I could not believe Wesleyan in a slightly different way. all we’re doing is making it difficult
Melissa Bates even if they don’t read the hand- something like that would happen I don’t want to believe that there for the next generation to overcome
Staff writer book. When I came to Wesleyan at my school, and I was outraged. could be discrimination of any kind the curse of discrimination.
mdbates@mail.xwes.edu I was afraid I might experience Later that week, I encountered on my campus or in my church, but I do my best to avoid discrimina-
discrimination because of my ag- discrimination again on campus I now realize that discrimination tion, but like most people, I have
nosticism, bisexuality and previous while in a humanities class discuss- may be everywhere and will not go stereotypical thoughts that slip into
homeless status. ing two workshops that had been away. my mind. Those thoughts might
I have not experienced many presented at University College I am still having trouble com- come from the clothes people wear,
Wesleyan has a very concise, but acts of personal discrimination in Day. The workshops focused on the prehending such intolerance and the cars they drive or the way they
perhaps not so clear, policy against my lifetime. I have however, experi- topic of transgender issues. discrimination from a group of look.
discrimination on its campuses. enced discrimination against others During the discussion, two of my people whom I expected to adhere Is that guy with his pants slung
Even if you’re no good at decipher- on issues of sexual orientation and classmates made it very clear they to a doctrine of love for their fellow low really a gang-banger, or is he
ing legal speak, the policy should be religious affiliation. did not like the topic and that they man. just trying to fit in with the crowd?
easy enough to comprehend. I guess I was naive when I came to didn’t want to continue the discus- Americans have overcome some Is the old man who just got off the
I’m starting to wonder how many Wesleyan. I expected this school to sion. They tried to make the com- insurmountable hurdles in the past bus wearing a pagri (head scarf)
of us actually read and understand be different from others. ments under their breaths, but I 234 years, but some form of dis- likely to be a terrorist? It’s ridicu-
the student handbook. One might think that discrimina- heard them loud and clear, and it crimination still exists in many of lous to make those assumptions.
Wesleyan defines discrimination tion on a Methodist campus would made me irate. us. I understand that discrimination
as “any act or conduct that is preju- be difficult to find, but I was ap- I nearly let my temper get the In recent months, we’ve seen dis- and stereotypes will not go away
dicial toward another person’s race, palled last spring when I found the best of me, but because I am older, crimination against Hispanics in any time soon, but it would be nice
color, national origin, ethnicity, opposite is true. I kept my mouth shut and let their Arizona and against Muslims all to keep it off the Texas Wesleyan
gender, age, religion, disability or A friend of mine, who happens to immature rants continue. across the nation. campus and out of Poly Church.

Concealed More guns

carry makes do not make
Shauna Banks Barry Grubbs
Staff writer Opinion editor
sbbanks@mail.txwes.edu bgrubbs@mail.txwes.edu

safety personal campus safer

Gun shots. Screaming. Cha-
os. Things no student, staff or
faculty member ever wants to
encounter within the class-
room at any university.
Yet, are institutions of
higher education across the
country really doing their
students and faculty any fa-
vors by banning licensed stu-
dents and staff from carrying
on campus?
The 2010-2011 Student
Handbook for Texas Wes-
leyan spells out strict rules
and policies concerning any
weapons on campus, includ-
ing concealed handguns.
It goes so far as to specify
that even those licensed to
carry any such weapons not
be permitted to carry, or have
them in any parked vehicle
on campus.
Maybe it’s just me, but I
know I’d be a little less pan-
icked in a shooter situation,
knowing that at least a few of
my classmates were armed.
Maybe those who possess
concealed handgun licenses
and were carrying could put
up some sort of defense, po-
tentially saving many lives.
Currently the university
uses the Wesleyan Emergen-
cy Management System. This
system is intended to rapidly
send messages to students
and faculty who are regis-
tered for the service, in the
event of a weather emergency
or violent crisis situation.
While this is all fine and
good, by the time any student
received such a message dur-
ing a violent shooter situa-
tion, the scene could already
be very grim. Nearly three
and a half years after the Vir-
ginia Tech shootings, I am
still convinced that allowing
students and faculty with
concealed handgun licenses
to carry on campus would
offer some sort of hope. Ob-
viously a similar situation
could arise at another college
campus.
I would hate to think that
my only defense would be
hiding behind a desk or pray-
ing that I played dead con-
vincingly enough.
Because after all is said and
done, the fact still remains
that a person who has gone
off the deep end, enough
to open up fire on a college
campus, has no regard for the
laws in place.
A simple policy stating
it’s now allowed, under stiff
penalties, just does not de-
ter such an individual. How-
ever, knowing the classroom
he or she was walking into
could contain five or more
concealed handgun carriers
would give room for pause.
Students for Concealed
Carry on Campus is an orga-
nization of students and fac-
ulty all over the country that
advocate for students’ rights
to carry on campus, as given
to us by the Second Amend-
ment of the U.S. Constitu-
tion.
Texas is still behind the
curve in allowing its students
who are licensed to carry on
campus, but came closer in
February 2009, when a bill
was introduced during the
81st legislative session, call-
ing for campuses to allow
concealed handgun carry.
SCCC said that Sena-
tor Jeff Wentworth (R-San
Antonio) introduced bill
1164 on Feb. 26, 2009.  and staff members carrying
The bill left the State Af-
fairs Committee and passed
the Senate by a vote of 20-
11.  The bill was then sent
back to the House Calendars
Committee but ultimate-
ly died due to the lengthy
Democratic filibuster in the
Texas House over the Voter
ID bill.
Despite this setback, de-
bates are still going on today
at many campuses, even pro-
gressing to “empty holster
protests,” originally coined by
the SCCC, in which students
wear empty gun holsters
in protest of the concealed
handgun ban.
Currently, Utah is the only
state allowing licensed hand-
gun owners to carry on cam-
pus at its nine public univer-
sities.
With any luck, Texas will
eventually follow suit—al-
lowing students and faculty
to equally defend themselves
in a crisis situation and put
their lives back in their own
hands.
Photo Illustration by Barry Grubbs
The idea of students, faculty
concealed handguns on Wes-
leyan’s campus does not sit
right with me for a variety of
reasons. There are obviously
two sides to this issue but each
of us has the right to decide
which makes us feel safer.
The students and faculty on
any campus should strictly
focus on academic pursuits.
Security teams hired by the
college should likewise focus
on the constant protection of
those students and faculty. We
all have a role in the big pic-
ture.
Asking us to take responsi-
bility for our own security and
safety by allowing concealed
carry is counter to the ratio-
nale for hiring the security
force in the first place.
It isn’t logical to deploy a se-
curity force on a college cam-
pus whose mission is to pro-
vide a safe environment only
to minimize their ability by
disarming them.
There are college campuses
of various sizes all across the
country that have profes-
sionally-trained and properly
armed officers on their secu-
rity teams.
Weatherford College, for
example, is roughly the size
of Wesleyan, and employs a
security force comprised of
professionally-trained peace
officers who are armed and on
duty 24 hours a day. This is the
most effective way to provide
security to a campus regardless
of its size.
The Students for Concealed
Carry on Campus is a grass-
roots organization that sup-
ports concealed carry. Their
website lists a number of
“common arguments” for al-
lowing licensed adults to carry
on campus. They attempt to
answer each argument with a
very rational explanation. It
really is just rationalization.
That’s what I mean when I say
there are two sides to the issue.
Regardless of any rational-
ization by the SCCC, allow-
ing more guns on campus
will logically result in a higher
probability that a gun will be
used against the campus pop-
ulation. More guns–more op-
portunity. A gun that does not
exist can’t be fired accidentally
or on purpose.
According to SCCC data,
about 10 percent of adults are
licensed and carry concealed
guns nationwide. If I knew
one out of every 10 people on
campus was packing heat, I
would be distracted—period.
It’s one thing for someone to
take the state’s course to be-
come licensed. It is something
else entirely to predict how
a student with four hours of
safety training will react under
fire.
Students and faculty carry-
ing concealed guns would be
no less vulnerable to the crazy,
armed madman who comes
on campus bent on destruc-
tion than they are now. There
would just be more guns in-
volved, more bullets flying
and a greater probability that
someone is unintentionally in-
jured or killed.
Honestly, no one would ex-
pect a 22-year-old accounting
major to suddenly transform
into a commando and make all
the right decisions in a “kill or
be killed” situation that could
easily be over in less than a
minute. I can’t buy the concept
that someone with no expe-
rience of defending himself
against violent crime can sud-
denly protect himself and oth-
ers, just because he is the one
with the concealed gun. I don’t
want that pressure on me, and
I don’t want to put it on my
friends and professors.
I honestly don’t believe Wes-
leyan’s administration believes
there is any reason for the
students and staff of this uni-
versity to fear gun violence on
campus. If they change their
minds on that, I hope the reso-
lution will be to develop an
armed campus police force to
enhance our security.
There are plenty of places
where I believe concealed
carry is a good idea, and I
am a big fan of the U.S. Con-
stitution. There is not a more
civilized place to be than on a
college campus. That said—I
like to think we have a better
chance of remaining civilized
and safe, if we don’t get used
to the “wild west” approach to
campus security.

What do you think about students

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