The University Assembly discussed campus crime and passed a resolution pledging to update the campus code of conduct at its meeting Tuesday.
The successful resolution also covers the inclusion of the Outdoor Space Working Group into the campus code of conduct, the clarification on recruitment and appointment of members to the University Hearing and Review Boards and the change to make no contact directives binding for all parties and giving students the ability to appeal temporary suspensions, according to Gabriel Kaufman ’18, U.A. undergraduate student representative.
“These aren’t big changes to Campus Code of Conduct, but they are still really important ones,” he said.
CUPD Chief Kathy Zoner presented campus crime statistics, which showed an increase in reports of sexual offenses.
Zoner explained that the increase does not necessarily mean that there was an increase in occurrences of these incidents, but rather an increase in education about how to report sexual offenses. Zoner also specified that the crimes in the statistical report are not all committed by members of the Cornell community.
Zoner addressed Cornell’s preparedness for active shootings, calling Cornell’s campus “too large” and “not capable of lockdown.”
“The idea of a lockdown in our mind is you’re in a classroom that has a lock on the door — lock yourself in, that’s your lockdown and then we will communicate the text messaging to let you know what we know about the situation,” she said.
However, Zoner added that Cornell is “very prepared from a first-responder’s standpoint.”
“Depending how widespread the attack may be, that will decide whether the University will move quickly or move slowly,” she said.
The U.A. also discussed the recent legislation to bring heroin injection facilities to Ithaca, a facility which Zoner called “a very small part of a very large program.”
“From my law enforcement hat, heroin is still illegal,” she said. “It will be very difficult for us to turn a blind eye to somebody who is possessing heroin on them.”
However, Zoner also presented a humanitarian perspective on the issue, saying that “any type of service that we can put in place to help support getting [people] … where they can be more productive members of society is very helpful.”
Finally, Kaufman reintroduced a revised version of a resolution requesting that the administration move the Cornell Store’s distribution of textbooks from a revenue generating financial model to a cost recovery model — which he said would result in the store selling textbooks at more affordable rates.