Northwest Arkansas Community College board uses last chance to ban guns

Students are seen in the Becky Paneitz Student Center at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville in this 2017 file photo. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo)
Students are seen in the Becky Paneitz Student Center at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville in this 2017 file photo. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo)

BENTONVILLE -- The Northwest Arkansas Community College board decided by a 4-3 vote Monday to maintain its campus gun ban until new state legislation kicks in during the fall semester.

A state law passed in 2013 allowed faculty and staff members with concealed-carry permits to bring their weapons on campuses of public colleges and universities, unless the boards of those institutions voted annually to opt out of the law. Monday marked the fifth straight year Northwest Arkansas Community College's board had voted to opt out.

Honorary degree

The Northwest Arkansas Community College board voted unanimously Monday to grant an honorary associate degree to Ramsay Ball. Ball, a broker for Colliers International, is a member of the board that oversees the college’s foundation. DeAnne Witherspoon, a college board member, said Ball helped launch the President’s Circle, a group that consists of the college’s most steadfast financial supporters.

Source: Staff report

Act 562, signed into law last month, eliminates the right to opt out after this school year. It allows anyone with a concealed-carry permit to bring a gun on campus if they get up to eight hours of training beyond what's otherwise necessary to obtain a permit.

The new law takes effect Sept. 1. The college's previous vote to opt out was effective only through June 30; the board, then, had to decide what to do about the two months in between.

Evelyn Jorgenson, college president, told the board the college needs that time to consider how to handle certain situations relevant to the new law once it takes effect.

"For example, what happens if we are taking students on a field trip and the place we're going to does not allow guns, yet they're allowed to carry guns here," Jorgenson said. "Are we supposed to have gun safes? Or do we just make notice to students that they have to do something with their gun prior to loading up to go on the field trip?"

Jorgenson also noted the college hosts summer camps for children. The law's impact on those programs is something else to consider.

"We're trying to think of all possibilities, all the things where we'll need to have policies in place to help us keep everyone safe, yet abide by the new legislation that becomes effective Sept. 1," she said.

The board's vote on a resolution to uphold the gun ban through the summer initially ended in a 3-3 tie. Mike Shupe, Debra Hobbs and DeAnne Witherspoon voted for it; Ron Branscum, Todd Schwartz and Mark Scott voted against it. Mauricio Herrera, board chairman, broke the tie with his "yes" vote.

Joe Spivey, vice chairman, was absent.

The college has set up a task force to study the kinds of issues it needs to address through new policies and procedures because of Act 562.

The task force of about 24 staff members met for the first time Friday, said Teresa Taylor, interim executive director of institutional policy, risk management and compliance.

Notes and minutes from the task force meetings will be posted online in the interest of transparency, Taylor said.

"It is our intent to not use the task force to argue the merits of the law, but to really look at Act 562, have all the different players come together and tell us what potentially could be affected, what could need to be changed," Taylor said.

Taylor said she expects the committee will meet about once every other week for at least the next few months. Administrators likely will be reaching out to their counterparts at other colleges and universities to understand how they're responding to the law.

"This is statewide, so we all need to be on the same page," Taylor said.

Schwartz asked why the college wasn't previously prepared for the possibility of concealed-carry on campus, in case the board had decided not to opt out of the current law.

The current law is simpler because it applies only to full-time faculty and staff members, and the college would have had enough time to make necessary adjustments before any changes went into effect, Jorgenson said.

Act 562 allows anyone who's 21 or older to carry a gun, which "changes the dynamics" on campus, she said.

NW News on 04/11/2017

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