On Jan. 27 the Department of Homeland Security announced a domestic terrorism alert projected to last for weeks. The alert came in response to a heightened threat environment across the country, from white supremacist organizations and outraged citizens following the confirmation of President Joe Biden.
Because of this, universities, such as BGSU, are working with local law enforcement to make sure that students can feel safe, even when they want to feel heard.
“We certainly do the very best we can to prepare (for protests), and I feel that our BGSU police are always certainly mindful and are good partners with the university, to work through potential situations,” Jodi Webb, the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, said.
Local law enforcement continues to stay on high alert and prepared for situations that could occur on the campus.
“We value the fact of freedom of expression and freedom of speech,” BGSU Chief of Police Michael Campbell said. “That being said, our role then becomes making sure that those who want to exercise those rights are doing so appropriately and safely, so we try and monitor what is happening in our community.”
A concern that campus law enforcement also keeps in mind is that of external groups such as Great Millstone in Detroit, Michigan, and Nation of Islam in Toledo, Ohio (not to be mistaken with Masjid of Al-Islam Mosque in Toledo).
“We are a public institution and people do come and go,” Campbell said, “But we are making sure that we are staying on the forefront of things, being visible, and being prepared.”
Despite the national concerns about potential election protests becoming violent, the university has confidence that students will continue to voice their opinions without gathering in large groups.
“The fall 2020 election was different than I anticipated, with regards to campus climate,” Webb said. “I think that while there were students who were very passionate about the issue, I think that the way that those individuals were voicing them were very different, since we did not see them gathering.”
According to statistics on bestplace.net, a website that offers people important safety information about specific counties across the U.S., Wood County has a crime index of 8.9, nearly 10 points under the state average. This makes Wood County one of the safest counties in the state of Ohio.
“We are not immune to violent behavior in this community for sure, but based on what we have experienced over the years, demonstrators who are exercising their freedom of speech have done so peacefully and cooperatively,” Campbell said.
Adam Wilson, a third year political science major, feels safe to voice his opinion because of this.
“I think that BG has done a very reasonable, almost remarkable job in the sense that you do not see any clashes over controversial issues,” Wilson said. “We have had some pretty controversial speakers come to campus, and BG has created a very tolerant climate for people of different perspectives.”
