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SUNY Fredonia officials denied there is a safety problem on campus after College Council member Jo Ann Niebel brought the issue up at a meeting Wednesday.
Niebel interrupted Council President Frank Pagano's closing statement on raising admissions, declaring that students won't attend an unsafe campus. She mentioned recent rumors about problems with the "blue light" call box system, and a security breach that occurred last year where a non-student broke into a female's dorm room and stared at her.
"He could have slit her throat," Niebel said. She and a clearly irritated Pagano raised voices at each other briefly, with the council president stating he wanted to keep his statement positive.
"I think this campus is very safe. Our security is doing a great job," he said.
Michael Metzger, vice president of finance and administration on campus, told Niebel the call box system "works perfectly."
Another security addition not mentioned at Wednesday's meeting, but noted in a press release by the campus, is the addition this month of audio and video recording units to police uniforms.
Metzger also said the school had hired more police officers recently. That made Niebel wonder if more police were brought in due to security issues. She added that there was not enough information currently issued by the university administration on incidents such as the dorm room break-in, but more information on security concerns was shared in the past.
Another College Council member, Cynthia Ahlstrom, then asked for regular presentations on the state of campus safety at council meetings. College President Stephen Kolison agreed to that.
"We should tout our safety if it's strong and if not, we should do something about that," Ahlstrom said. She stated it was difficult to be an effective liasion between the campus and the community without accurate information, whether on crime, finances or any other category.
Kolison said, "When things happen, we take adequate steps to address it and address it very quickly."