In its most visible response to the deaths of Michael McKinney, Karl Harford and other violent events involving Ball State students, the university will kick off an advertising campaign today that reminds students how they could be punished for breaking the law on and off campus.
The campaign, "Police Yourself," unofficially began Monday with an e-mail from Doug McConkey, vice president of Student Affairs, to all students. It comes just after the Muncie Police Department announced a "crackdown" on house parties near campus, and it is based on the common threads between violent events on campus this year.
It will continue today with an advertisement published in the Daily News that will also be e-mailed to students. The advertisements will run in the Daily News and sent to students every Thursday indefinitely, Dean of Students Randy Hyman said.
"This is not an overnight quick-fix," Hyman said.
The advertisements and McConkey's e-mail list options Ball State officials and Muncie Police could use to deal with alcohol violations. Today's advertisement says students could be ticketed, arrested or fined, students' parents could be contacted and students could be placed on probation, suspended or expelled. It also warns that students that sell alcohol or serve alcohol to minors could go to jail and face "severe discipline" at Ball State.
"We are sending a very clear and specific message," McConkey said at a press conference Wednesday. "Police yourself, or face severe consequences."
Hyman said students usually are placed on disciplinary probation the first time they are brought to his office, but punishments are more likely to be severe in the wake of recent events. Earlier, Heather Shupp, executive director of University Communications, said every case is different, so every punishment will be different.
McConkey emphasized that the campaign is not meant to place blame for the deaths at Ball State this year on the victims or the rest of the students.
"Our goal is that no students are caught up in that crackdown," McConkey said.
Also as part of the campaign, Acting President Beverley Pitts will be sending letters to parents of students and prospective students, and the University Police Department will double its patrols on weekend afternoon and evening patrols from four officers to eight. But McConkey said the campaign also asks students to eliminate the need for police to enter the picture.
"Public safety is going to be better through the efforts of everyone," McConkey said. "Students are going to be more aware, and therefore more responsible, and therefore more safe."
The policies listed in the campaign are not new ones, Hyman said, although the Muncie Police Department began sharing names of students that are arrested with Ball State just last December.
"We just want to educate," Hyman said.
Hyman and McConkey said student response so far has been mixed, reaching from students who wholeheartedly support the campaign to students who responded to McConkey's e-mail with harsh words.
"A lot of people are very supportive of this," McConkey said.
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