The Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate heard a presentation from the Threat Assessment and Management Teams after Sunday’s on-campus shooting. Senators also discussed student outreach on diversity and voting rights.
TAMT Director Jessie Semmann spoke to the ASUA Senate about the TAMT program and its outreach to students. Semmann said the program’s goals were preventing violence by watching for warning signs and implementing various management plans.
TAMT also works with various programs across campus, including the University of Arizona Police Department, the Dean of Students and Counseling and Psych Services, which Semmann said she will sometimes direct students to if TAMT is not the best resource for the specific matter.
Semmann also said that there was nothing TAMT could have done to prevent the shooting that occurred this past weekend, as neither of the students involved were affiliated with the University of Arizona. The incident was outside TAMT’s jurisdiction.
While not a representative for the Office of Public Safety or UAPD, Semmann said , “I will tell you I am in regular communication with people saying [UA safety officials are] very, very aware about the negative feedback about the UAlert and is very, very intent on fixing some of the issues with UAlerts.”
Semmann also added that TAMT cannot effectively prevent violence, such as assaults or shootings if students or faculty do not reach out with concerns. She hopes to build trust in the community by working with more students and continuing the outreach of the newly formed program, which has officially existed since the fall of 2023.
TAMT also trains all students and faculty on warning signs, reporting behaviors and what to do when someone exhibits these behaviors. Semmann encouraged everyone to take the training and hopes it will eventually be mandated for all students and faculty.
The senate moved on to committees and discussed overall plans to create more diversity, equity and inclusion programs, working with individual colleges to ensure they reach their community. The project and outreach committee also discussed plans to build more voter outreach projects.
ASUA Administrative Vice President Alicia Hall detailed a voting event for Monday, Sept. 30, in the ASUA office in the Student Union Memorial Center. Guest speakers will be present and students can register to vote.
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