University of Toledo Democrats want to know “What’s on your mind?”

The University of Toledo College Democrats hosted their first of three “What’s on your mind?” forums last Wednesday.

According to UT College Democrats President Ronald Tallon, the event was created to get students engaged in current issues that affect campus life. The forum focused on campus and community safety.

The discussion was led by a panel consisting of UT Police Chief Jeff Newton, Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, Virginia Speight, associate vice president for student affairs and director of residence life, and Mary Martinez, student conduct officer and Title IX deputy.

“The whole point of this event is not just to focus on campus safety, but generally getting students to shine light on issues that affect life every day. Campus safety was the first one we came up with,” Tallon said.

Tallon said the topic was chosen before recent off-campus crimes were reported.

The event included opening remarks from each panelist and an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

When asked about the recent off-campus crimes such as the incident where Janelle Noe was burned and the allegedly racially motivated assault of Ray Watkins, Newton said working with the Toledo Police Department is key when dealing with student crime off-campus.

“They are difficult, these situations, they are unfortunate, they’re going to happen,” Newton said. “You wish that there’d be no unfortunate violent incidents, on- or off-campus, but they’re going to happen, we’ve got to be real about that … what we’re trying to do to prevent it in the first place, and I think we’re doing a lot. But they are going to happen and we just have to make sure we are communicating and on the same page….”

Martinez said that regardless of whether a student is on- or off-campus, they are “still held accountable for the expectations in the student code of conduct.”

“The university’s top priority is student safety, we want to make sure students have a safe, conducive living and learning environment, to be here on campus and to get the education and socialization that they need and want,” Martinez said during her opening statement.

Newton reinforced these ideas from the position of campus security, emphasizing the low on-campus crime rate. In the annual crime and fire report done for 2014, no aggravated assaults and no arsons were reported on-campus, but one sexual assault and one hate crime was reported.

“It’s our job to provide the safest environment possible,” Newton said. “We have very few incidents of violent crime on-campus. … We’re going to do everything we can to keep our department as professionally run as possible.”

Newton said training is a very important tool used to prepare for emergencies. Virginia Speight said training is equally important in Residence Life.

“Within each division, each area has their plan, each area has their training, and we want to make sure that the students are trained at the beginning of the semester to go over any type of emergency that could come up.”

Speight and Newton said they train their staff in a variety of programs including ALICE and Safe Space trainings.

Additionally, Newton said one the best ways to stay safe is to stay informed. He recommended following UTPD on social media and paying attention to any bulletins they may post.

Mayor Hicks-Hudson said personal safety is important to focus on, but she also highlighted the importance of civil engagement.

“I want you to think of safety as being a part of the government, a part of the community that you live in,” Hudson said. “The larger safety is using your vote.”

At the event, the UT College Democrats provided a table and the forms necessary to register to vote. About 30 people attended the event and several stopped by to register.

“I thought it turned out well, based on expectations and based on never doing the event before,” Tallon said. “It was a great event overall and we’re happy the way it turned out.”