The University of Arizona held a Campus Wellness and Safety Forum on Oct. 9 at the Grand Challenges Research Building aimed at updating the community about campus wellbeing and safety initiatives.
Provost Patricia Prelock opened the panel by stating the administration’s goal is to make the university a place for everyone to feel safe. She highlighted that safety and wellness are not separate, and she shared that President Suresh Garimella has made wellness and safety a priority for his vision of “supportive, inclusive and resilient environment where everyone can thrive.”
Prelock confirmed the UA is still reviewing the Trump administration’s compact letter, a decision that will involve the Arizona Board of Regents, Associated Students of the University of Arizona leadership and UA faculty. “We are listening to every voice, we have not decided yet,” Prelock said.
Chief Safety Officer Steve Patterson shared safety updates, including new classroom locks and automated license plate readers. According to Patterson, these new updates reflect his department’s goal of making communication the backbone of safety.
“Safety is about communication with community,” Patterson said. “We meet with student leaders like Adriana every three weeks. Sometimes these conversations are difficult, but they are necessary.”
According to Patterson, the APLRs have helped recover stolen vehicles. “The personal data recorded is not shared with any outside agency, unless ordered by a court,” Patterson said. Patterson assured license plate data would not be used for personal investigations or immigration enforcement unless ordered by a judge.
“If students are not fully safe, mentally safe, we are failing,” ASUA President Adriana Grijalva said.
Outside the panel, protesters from UA Resist, along with other activists and students, gathered to share their disapproval of the new policies. For many students, the surveillance presence on campus caused concern.
“Just having those ALPRs does not equal safety, it equals that if the government wants that information, they can have it,” UA student Kristen Guptill-Godfrey said. “They say this is about wellness, but signing that compact would destroy any sense of safety for trans, immigrant and international students.”
While administration spoke of communication and community, students feel as though their actions show otherwise. Students in attendance protesting outside described being asked to close the doors and being threatened with police removal. Bryan Gramajo, a student demonstrator, said, “they keep saying they’re listening, but every time we speak up, they shut the door. It doesn’t feel safe, it feels silenced.”
Guptill-Godfrey, among other UA students, clarified that their opposition is not towards stronger safety measures. Instead, they argue UA’s use of surveillance along with their poor communication is the issue.
“If people think they are safe because it is not affecting them yet, they need to understand they will be next,” Guptill-Godfrey said.
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