W James
The Florida Southern College administrators addressed the increase in hate crimes among other issues on campus at this semester’s Town Hall.
HATE CRIMES
Provost Kyle Fedler recounted the three incidents that had happened within Allen Spivey Hall. Fedler was not able to provide a detailed timeline but the events are in order as reported.
The first incident involved a “homophobic slur” on the door of a resident, which resulted in a door to door questioning and a talk by school administration. The second incident involved the placement of a sex object onto a students door. This action resulted with a letter to parents and students of the residence hall.
The third incident was the placement of a threatening note under the door of a resident “not directly at an individual student.” The contents of the note were not released.
After the third incident, President Kerr had a meeting with the Chief of Police for the Lakeland Police Department (LDP) on what Florida Southern can do to take care of the situation. Kerr and an officer from LPD also spoke with the students of Allen Spivey Hall last Sunday in regards to the crimes – click for more info .
It was also announced that residents are being required to undergo diversity training and cameras have been installed inside of the Hall.
“This is completely unacceptable. This is not to be tolerated and is not reflective of who we are,” Fedler said.
HOUSING
The question came up about housing, given this year’s increase in Freshmen enrollment. Kerr addressed the issue by detailing the goal set out the Board of Trustees of having 2,500 full time undergraduate students.
That number will be reached this year and in order to expand the housing the school will be building a new apartment complex.
President Kerr announces new apartments adjacent to Grace Lutheran Church, building will be similar to current Garden Apartments. #FSCTownHall
— Southern Newspaper (@FSCsouthern) November 7, 2018
“We are starting a new apartment complex project,” Kerr said. “We purchased two thirds of the property adjacent to Grace Lutheran Church and we will be building apartments exactly like Garden Apartments.”
FOOD
A student brought up potentially having on campus options, such as the Grill Master and Buckstop, open on the weekends.
According to Food Service Director Tim Raible, there are no new plans to keep those open on the weekends but the Buckstop will be open during basketball events.
To address the question further, Vice President of Finance and Administration Terry Dennis asked to the students present at the meeting about their interest in adding Steak and Shake as a food venue on campus.
“We have been in conversations with Steak and Shake that might lead to something, but we wanted to know if the students would like that,” Dennis said.
VP Finance and Administration Terry Dennis announces that Florida Southern is in talks with bringing a Steak and Shake to campus. #FSCTownHall
— Southern Newspaper (@FSCsouthern) November 7, 2018
Kerr added that discussions with Chick-Fil-A have not been successful thus far but are still ongoing. The administrators also informally polled the room as to the interest in the restaurant chains.
According to the unofficial poll, the students were split 50/50 between the two fast food chains but were excited about the potential of having a fast food chain on campus.
Raible also addressed the lack of fresh fruit in the Moc Mart saying that there will be more options coming soon.
SUSTAINABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION
Sustainability was a topic that was recurring about at this semester’s Town Hall.
In reference to recycling initiatives on campus, Dennis said that there are more recycling bins around campus this year, but students need to discard their trash in the proper receptacles.
In reference to potentially more sustainable buildings, Kerr addressed this by talking about the need for tight budgets.
“All the new buildings are paid for by alumni and friends of the college therefore we are not using tuition dollars on those facilities. We have to keep those budgets as tight as we can,” Kerr said.
For more information, or to ask more questions, contact Student Government at sga@flsouthern.edu.
