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statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Department of Mathematics Statement on Opposition to Guns in Classrooms

November 12, 2015

The Department of Mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin is opposed  to allowing guns in classrooms and faculty offices. The presence of guns, or even their potential presence, would create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation  that would impede our ability to teach, to mentor students, and to conduct  research, and it would interfere with our students’ ability to learn. As such, guns  would undermine the core mission of the University. Continue reading Department of Mathematics Statement on Opposition to Guns in Classrooms →

statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Department of Economics on Campus Carry

The undersigned faculty, staff, and emeriti of the Department of Economics at the University of Texas at  Austin strongly oppose the “campus carry” bill (Senate Bill 11) that is scheduled to go into effect August 1, 2016. We believe that the presence of guns (concealed or otherwise) in classrooms, faculty offices, social spaces, and dormitories is unsafe and will inhibit the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints that is integral to a university. As we aspire to be a first tier public university, we must recognize that this law will damage our ability to recruit and retain the best students and faculty from across Texas, the United States, and the world. Continue reading Department of Economics on Campus Carry →

statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Department of Biomedical Engineering Statement on Campus Carry

We, the members of the Department of Biomedical Engineering listed below, state our  strong opposition to concealed weapons on campus. As biomedical engineers we strive to improve human health by training students to bridge engineering and physical sciences with the biological sciences. The free exchange of ideas in the classroom, laboratories, and faculty and staff offices is central to this goal and we feel that the presence of guns on campus will inhibit free speech and open dialog. In addition, almost all Biomedical Engineering laboratories contain flammable and toxic chemicals,
biological agents and other hazards, and the presence of guns in these environments  could pose additional threats. Allowing guns in campus buildings would be detrimental to our ability to educate students and is counter to the mission of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Continue reading Department of Biomedical Engineering Statement on Campus Carry →

statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Department of Philosophy Statement on Campus Carry

November 2, 2015

The faculty, staff, and graduate students of the Department of Philosophy, whose names are listed  below, oppose allowing guns in our classrooms, offices, and other campus locations. We believe that the  implementation of Texas Senate Bill 11 makes the campus more dangerous for faculty and students. Continue reading Department of Philosophy Statement on Campus Carry →

myth busters

The Arguments Used by Campus Carry Supporters are Wrong

1.  Campus Carry won’t have much impact because CHL holders must be over 21 and few such students live on campus. WRONG:

  • Over 5000 people within a 5 mile radius of UT-Austin’s campus have CHLs.
  • Tens of thousands of visitors come to UT every semester. 
  • The UT community is not just undergraduates, but also includes graduate students, faculty, administrators and staff–most of whom are over 21.
  • Texas recognizes licenses from other states, some of which have minimum ages of 18 or 19. Those licensed carriers are supposed to obey Texas law (including age restrictions) while in Texas, but many have had no training whatsoever and do not know Texas law. Alabama, for example, issues concealed carry licenses to people as young as 18, and has no training requirement at all.
  • There are classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, and other public spaces in some UT dorms, such as Jester and Carothers, where non-residents can come and go during business hours.

2.  Campus Carry will allow people to protect themselves from criminals. WRONG:

3. Gun Free zones attract criminals with guns. WRONG:

4.  Good Guys with guns can stop Bad Guys with guns. WRONG:

5.  Women with guns can better protect themselves against sexual violence. WRONG:

  • A study of FBI and Clery Act data shows that sexual violence has not decreased on campuses where Concealed Carry has been implemented.
  • Most campus sexual assault occurs between acquaintances, where the victim would be unlikely to use a gun.

6.  Trust CHL holders: they are law-abiding citizens. 

  • Conviction rates are unreliable, because negligent shootings by presumptive “good guys” often go unprosecuted.

SB11 directs college presidents to determine a “reasonable” policy for where guns are allowed.   We call upon UT President Fenves to declare all campus buildings off limits to guns, and we call upon the legislature to respect that decision.

Sources  Continue reading The Arguments Used by Campus Carry Supporters are Wrong →

statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Statement of the Faculty of the School of Architecture on Senate Bill 11

The undersigned faculty of the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin strongly oppose Senate Bill 11 (the “campus carry” bill) that is scheduled to go into effect August 1, 2016.

We believe that there is no reasonable justification for permitting concealed guns to be taken into classrooms, faculty offices and other advising or review spaces in our school. There is no evidence that the presence of concealed weapons in classrooms or other university buildings promotes student safety. There are serious reasons to believe that allowing firearms into our buildings will increase stress, anxiety, and the risk of violent events.

Our fundamental commitment as teachers is to create classroom, studio and advising environments of trust and openness. The School of Architecture employs a unique process for the evaluation of student work. Learning and developing the professional skills unique to the design and planning professions occurs through intense discourse, debate, and open critique. Student work is presented and publicly critiqued by reviewers from within the school along with reviewers invited from other universities or from architecture or planning offices. This is a very intense process where students, often tired and stressed, are exposed to public evaluation and criticism. Allowing firearms to be carried at these public reviews would create risks and would fundamentally change the nature and quality of the review process.

The School of Architecture includes several nationally ranked programs. In addition to the risks to our pedagogical culture described above, allowing weapons to be carried in our buildings would seriously undermine our ability to recruit top students from across the country, to recruit leading scholars and designers to join our faculty, and to secure reviewers from outside our institution who are leaders in the fields represented in our school. Continue reading Statement of the Faculty of the School of Architecture on Senate Bill 11 →

updates

GunFreeUT has retained local counsel

GunFreeUT has retained local counsel and we will be represented by the National Lawyers Guild.

We are also consulting with attorneys with the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus who have expertise in fighting back against campus carry in other jurisdictions.

Once the administration announces its policy, we will evaluate our legal options.

statements by departments, students and professional organizations

National Academic Associations Oppose Campus Carry!

November 12, 2015

The horrific shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon and subsequent incidents of gun violence elsewhere have prompted renewed efforts to keep our colleges and universities both safe and open. One measure increasingly proposed is legislation already approved in eight states—that would allow any licensed gun owner to carry concealed weapons on campus. Advocates of such so-called “campus carry” legislation contend that the presence of weapons in classrooms and other campus facilities will deter those seeking to wreak violence. Oregon is one state where “campus carry” is legal, but that did not prevent the tragedy. Colleges and universities closely control firearms and prohibit concealed guns on their campuses because they regard the presence of weapons as incompatible with their educational missions. College campuses are marketplaces of ideas, and a rigorous academic exchange of ideas may be chilled by the presence of weapons. Students and faculty members will not be comfortable discussing controversial subjects if they think there might be a gun in the room.

William McRaven, chancellor for the University of Texas system and a former member of the Navy SEALs who rose to the rank of admiral, opposed passage of “campus carry” legislation in his state. “I feel the presence of concealed weapons will make a campus a less safe environment,” he said. “If you have guns on campus, I question whether or not that will somehow inhibit our freedom of speech. If you’re in a heated debate with somebody in the middle of a classroom and you don’t know whether or not that
individual is carrying, how does that inhibit the interaction between students and faculty?”

The undersigned organizations strongly support efforts to make college campuses as safe and weapon free as possible for students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members. We therefore oppose efforts to enact “campus carry” laws and call for their repeal where they already exist. We encourage colleges and universities to embrace critical incident planning that includes faculty and staff and to advise all faculty and staff of these plans. We further call on these institutions to rely on trained and equipped professional law-enforcement personnel to respond to emergency incidents. State legislative bodies must refrain from interfering with decisions that are properly the responsibility of the academic
community.

Signatories

American Association of University Professors
American Federation of Teachers
Association of American Colleges and Universities
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges

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statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

November 9, 2015

We the undersigned members of the faculty in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, strongly oppose the Campus Carry Legislation. As teacher educators and researchers on teaching and learning, we are deeply concerned about the potential silencing of academic discussion and inquiry that the presence of dangerous weapons in classrooms will have. Education can only occur in a safe space. Positive learning communities are built upon trust, safety, openness to ideas, and freedom from intimidation or retaliation. We hope the legislature will reconsider this policy and allow us to foster learning and inquiry in a gun-free environment. Continue reading Department of Curriculum and Instruction →

statements by departments, students and professional organizations

Business, Government & Society Department

November 10, 2015

We the undersigned faculty members of the Business, Government & Society Department believe that the best evidence clearly indicates that the proliferation of guns in our society has made people less safe and that the presence of more guns on campus would similarly make UT a less safe place for students, faculty, and staff.  This is the view of a strong majority of the faculty members in the BGS Department. Continue reading Business, Government & Society Department →