A closer look at safety on campus
By: SPENCER GLEASON
Editor in Chief
April 18 marks the one-year anniversary of the student attack in Communications South that led to structural, staff and procedural changes on the STLCC-Meramec campus.
At 8:08 a.m., April 18, 2013 student Blythe Grupe left her classroom to use the restroom when student JevonMallory allegedly attacked her in the second floor bathroom of Communications South. After the attack, Grupe said Mallory was hiding in a bathroom stall.
“Right when I was about to wash my hands, and I hadn’t noticed anyone around or anything, someone had walked in and kind of slipped past me,” Grupe told The Montage after the attack. “I realized someone was standing behind me, but at that point he had me in a headlock and was choking me with his arm.”
Mallory was charged on April 23, 2013 with a class D felony and assault in the first degree. Bond was initially set at $10,000. After a Grand Jury Indictment was filed on May 22, 2013, Mallory’s bond was increased to $50,000 cash only on June 24, 2013.
A Year Later
The leadership team at Meramec is continually updating its safety procedures and policies, said Vice President of Academic Affairs Andrew Langrehr.
“Anytime that you have something happen like this, you need to look at it and make sure that you are doing the best that you can and make improvements,” Langrehr said. “It definitely caused us to internally look at things and externally we had a consulting group come in to make sure we were dealing with things.”
According to Langrehr, the incident prompted administration to evaluate current safety practices. “We had an outsider’s perspective, so we weren’t just looking at it through rose-colored glasses,” he said. “We are supposed to be continuously improving. We definitely didn’t miss out on the opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror and have someone else look at us under the microscope.”
After the April 18 incident, STLCC made both structural and staff changes.
On April 26, 2013, former Meramec President George Wasson resigned from office.
Four months later, the STLCC Board of Directors held a press conference stating that then Meramec Campus Police Chief Paul Banta, STLCC District Chief of Police Robert Stewart and Vice President of Student Affairs at Meramec Linden Crawford had been removed from their positions after an investigation by local law firm Armstrong Teasdale was conducted.
Following the announcement, Pam McIntyre was named Meramec President and Kim Fitzgerald was named Acting Vice President of Student Affairs. Tony Russo was hired as the Meramec campus police chief, overseeing the Wildwood campus and the South County Education Center, in September 2013.
Perception of Safety
Russo said he views the campus climate and atmosphere safer than it was a year ago. “What I perceive is that it is a lot safer because we’ve changed a lot of things or made things better,” Russo said. “All the feedback that I’m getting is that it is a lot safer than it’s ever been.”
According to Langrehr, the Meramec campus is a safe place, but the attack on campus shed light on room for improvement.
“My guess would be, if you surveyed folks, that the majority of people would say that this is a safe campus,” Langrehr said. “If you look at our crime statistics prior to the incident and since, it’s a safe place to be. I do think when you have something like that happen, it causes you to assess what caused it and how can we improve things. So there is no doubt because of that we have made changes.”
Russo attributes the changed perception to training, his police officers and improved safety measures. “This is a no-nonsense business and the police officers here were a little discouraged,” Russo said. “Everything that is good right now is a reflection of our police officers.”
Russo said that Meramec campus police are in a position to reach out to the student body and build a relationship. That relationship will only enhance campus safety, according to Russo.
“Sometimes people see police officers as an occupying force and we are always going to have that adversarial tension, but we can do a lot to reduce that by stopping and talking to these youngsters,” Russo said. “It’s a way to break the ice and a way to get the kids talking.”
The college has also increased technology in recent years. Meramec now has 67 interior and seven exterior cameras. The Wildwood campus has 17 interior and six exterior campuses while the South County Education Center has nine interior and six exterior cameras. That is just a start, Russo said.
Although 99.9 percent of the time, Russo said the Meramec police department handles all incidents, they do work hand in hand with the Kirkwood police department.
“Kirkwood police department has been incredible allies in safety,” Russo said. “They have committed to us. They wrote an operating order that says exactly how they will help us.”
Kirkwood Fire and EMS has also asked to be a part of every drill at Meramec, Russo said. The next drill, scheduled for August 2014, will allow staff and officers to practice an active shooter scenario.
Future Prevention
Safety is a concern across the country, said Langrehr. “Every time an incident is in the news, it just heightens the awareness,” he said. “The circumstances can make even the best-laid plans a challenge.”
According to Russo, early intervention and preparation is the priority. “Some of the things you look for to prevent problems are behaviors of concern,” Russo said.
At Meramec, the Behavioral Intervention Team (B.I.T.) is made up of Russo, Fitzgerald, Linda Nissenbaum from the Access Office and Hope Steiner from Counseling. They meet once a week to discuss problems with students that have been reported by faculty or other students. The B.I.T. relies on information given to them by faculty and students via the Behavior Incident Report Form on the Meramec website.
“A lot of [the reports] are just for information only, which is not a bad thing,” Fitzgerald said in August. “A handful of them have required some action. It’s all different.”
Since the April 18 attack, Langrehr said the wind was taken out of Meramec. But he said he is hopeful that better days are ahead for the campus.
“After that incident and the attention it got, I think it hurt morale,” Langrehr said. “That incident was pretty tough on our campus. We are anticipating more change, but I sense some optimism and we, at Meramec, feel good about our campus.”
