TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — After the shooting of Professor Thomas Meixner by his former student Murad Dervish, the University of Arizona’s president Robert Robbins emailed a letter to students, faculty, and staff, detailing plans to rework and rethink safety protocols on campus.
Some students on campus said they feel safe while others are still feeling uncomfortable on campus.
“There’s not very many incidents that have happened,” UArizona junior Enoch Spiro said.
He said while he feels relatively safe, he feels like the university should be spending more money on providing mental health resources to students that may be going through rough times.
“Screening for people maybe, just being more aware of people that have problems,” Spiro said.
However, sophomore at the university, Asani Fowler, said he still feels terrified after the shooting, even almost two weeks after.
Fowler said he recently participated in a protest against the campus police after the shooting. He said he doesn’t feel safe on campus because he said the police’s response was slow.
“There have been other like, sort of weird things going on on campus, which police respond to way faster than they do actual murders, so no, I don’t feel safe at all,” Fowler said.
Robbins said campus police visited Dervish’s home after he threatened university employees.
Katy Brown is a student at the university who said it was a good idea for campus police to check on Dervish.
“Just to see where his head was at and if there was any evidence of like why this may have happened and why this was the choice that he eventually made,” Brown said.
Robbins said the university also changed the password for rooms that Dervish had access to.
Brown, who was at the campus gym during the shooting, said that wasn’t enough to keep students safe.
“I saw a lot of people open the doors and come through wherever so I was nervous having everything unlocked and open,” Brown said.
Robbins says Dervish was banned from campus and university activities.
His picture was sent out to leadership in the Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences, but some students like Nousha Aldhefery said students should've also received the picture.
“They could’ve not only banned him from campus but maybe sent out his picture to all the student or maybe just sent out a letter in general saying like hey, watch out for this kid,” Aldhefery said.
Looking to the future, some students said they hope the university does better to help them feel safe on campus.
Fowler said he is hoping the university truly takes measures to make him feel comfortable on campus.
“Please do something to keep us safe or else we’ll do it for ourselves,” he said.
Students are being encouraged by Robbins to use this to submit their input about campus safety.
RELATED:
- Grand jury indicts Murad Dervish on seven felony charges for UArizona shooting
- UArizona President: University pursued charges against Dervish prior to shooting
- Attorney's Office reports two misdemeanor complaints against Dervish prior to shooting
- Public services, memorial fund for University of Arizona professor
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