The safety, security, and well-being of educating our students is paramount.
Campus Police’s primary responsibility is to work to ensure a safe and secure environment for thousands of students, faculty, staff, and visitors. The Alcorn State University student handbook clearly states that all students must follow lawful directives when asked to do so by a University official acting in an official capacity and must not interfere with Campus Police officers when they are fulfilling their duties.
The university is aware of recent incidents and videos depicting campus police and students. Due to the uncertainties surrounding the videos and the apparent full scope of the optics being unclear, the university will make no judgment.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, Alcorn State University is conducting a full review of the events that transpired and will take further action, as warranted for all parties involved, based on the results of those reviews.
We understand that in the current social environment there is a heightened sensitivity to the work of law enforcement and more can and must be done to foster a community where all students, employees, and visitors always feel safe and supported.
The university is very much aware that the circumstance represents another example of the work we can do as an institution around engaging our campus on the issues of personal responsibility, authority and law enforcement. To that end, we will immediately commence campus conversations and reviews on these issues.