‘Campus carry’ law

Contributed by: Kim Case, professor of women’s studies and psychology, and Beth Merfish, assistant professor of art history

As many UHCL community already know, the Texas legislature passed a law known as “campus carry” that will require all state universities to allow licensed concealed handguns on campus beginning August 1, 2016. As faculty members who take learning seriously, we ask all those opposed to this law to speak up and have your voices heard. For faculty members, the possibility of weapons in our classrooms, hallways, and offices represents both a constant threat and a distraction from the role we play in university life.

We seek to create safe spaces for discussion, engagement, and active learning in our classrooms. How can we do so if we are at the same time surveying our students for signs of weapons that make those classrooms dangerous, whether by intent or by the possibility of accidental weapon discharges?

We actively embrace intellectual debate, often concerning sensitive or emotionally-charged topics. How can we encourage debate when we must also consider and measure the invisible, ambiguous lines that separate vigorous discussion from violent encounter?

How are we to focus on the relationships we so value with our students—easy conversations in hallways, evaluations and grades dependent on mutual trust and integrity—when we must be ever-more vigilant and, possibly, suspicious of the role weapons may play in our daily interactions?

How can we recruit the most-qualified colleagues to join our learning community when they also receive job offers from universities where they do not have to worry that a dropped backpack may result in a discharged weapon, where they can encourage debate without fearing the consequences, where their families and loved ones do not worry about the ever-present threat that weapons on campus pose?

To date, the following groups have passed resolutions to state their clear opposition to the campus carry law: Faculty Senate, Council of Professors, School of Human Sciences and Humanities, Department of Liberal Arts, Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Communication and Digital Media Studies Programs, First-Year Seminar Program, Anthropology Program, Applied Social Issues, Behavior Analysis Program, and the Humanities Program. These resolutions will be passed on to the Board of Regents which must approve the UHCL proposed plan for where concealed handguns will be banned on campus.

We are calling on all programs, concentrations, departments, professional groups, offices, student groups, alumni groups, UHCL’s community partners, etc. to pass resolutions to oppose campus carry. Please feel free to use the language of the School of Human Sciences and Humanities resolution:

“We, the Faculty of the School of Human Sciences and Humanities at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, go on record as opposing “campus carry” and urge the banning of guns in all campus buildings, classrooms, offices, and other places of learning.”

Send your passed resolutions to President Staples as Chair of the UHCL Campus Carry Work Group ([email protected]). As campus community members, it is essential that we all participate in the conversations that shape our university and our lives. Please add your voices to ours in a resounding cry for a safe, nurturing, and vibrant learning and working environment for the entire UHCL community.

Update, 12/3/2015: The Art and Design Program has also passed a resolution stating their opposition to the campus carry law.

Editor’s Note: If you would like your program/organization’s name added to the list of those who oppose the campus carry law, please email [email protected] or [email protected].

View the complete list of programs/organizations who have passed resolutions.