Last Friday USM Provost Joe Wood defended the university police department’s investigation of a recent hate crime incident on the Gorham campus, saying, “I know they are very thorough and do the best job they can.”
Asked in a telephone interview whether the campus police should collaborate with other law enforcement agencies in identifying suspects, Wood said, “It is my experience that when something is referred to the Attorney General’s office, it involves the [Maine] State Police.”
Vice President of Student and University Life Craig Hutchinson said that a report on the September 12 incident has been referred to the Attorney General’s office.
USM Police Chief Lisa Beecher previously told the Free Press that once the department
had “exhausted all avenues andall leads” in a hate crime case, it would be filed with the Maine Attorney General’s office. The methods used by campus police to investigate are not meant as public knowledge. Beecher said, “If anyone wanted to commit crimes, they could learn from that.”
USM Police Lt. Ron Saindon also could not comment on methods used by the department, but said that every incident that threatens a student is thoroughly investigated and also entered in the Police Log available online.
The hate crime case involved a group of male students that harassed a homosexual couple at the Brooks Dining Hall on the Gorham Campus. The couple, also students of USM, were verbally abused, chased from the dining hall, and one of the suspects even referred to having a gun in his car.
Recent acts of uncivil behavior at the University of Southern Maine have sparked a student response, with several organizations collaborating with faculty and department heads to raise awareness on issues of tolerance and diversity.
Steffan Morin and Kiersten Fletcher, both student members of Queer Insurgency and the Gender Studies Student Organization (GSSO), set up a microphone and speaker on Masterton Hall’s steps facing the parking lot at Woodbury Campus Center. They also lined the edges of the stairs with seven signs protesting against hate crimes and advocating tolerance towards diverse populations on campus. Morin and Fletcher mentioned support from staff in setting up the rally, including Maya Kasper, the Director of Social Justice Programs, and GSSO’s Advisor, Professor Wendy Chapkis.
The sidewalk in front of Masterton’s stairs had similar slogans written in colored chalk. A member of the participating organizations was available throughout the day to field any questions from students and faculty and to spread their message of acceptance and tolerance. One participant read a letter from the editor published in the Free Press by Executive Editor, Angelique Carson.(See September 18 edition)
Dean of Student Life Joe Austin said a meeting was held later that evening for Gorham’s residential students to discuss this issue and other incidents that have as yet been reported. Austin said the goal of the meeting was “so that students can be a part of this.”
Hutchinson said that more meetings are being planned to “address possible negative feelings from the Gorham community towards the campus population. [These incidents] are symptomatic of a larger issue.”
“Some of this is indicative of what’s going on in the greater community,” Austin said in a separate interview.
The Free Press asked what the student body could expect from the campus police investigation, to which Austin said, “This hasn’t gone off the radar.”
The involved organizations considered the rally successful. Morin said, “Successful in the sense that we were able to communicate our message to people and that they were very responsive and supportive.” ?