In August, students at Texas public universities will be able to legally carry guns on campus, according to state Senate Bill 11. The “campus carry” bill, which was signed into law in June 2015, does not allow public universities to ban weapons on their campuses. Of course, this new legislation comes with widespread fear and paranoia among the faculty and staff at these institutions.
The unofficial proposed solution by the University of Houston faculty senate? Stay away from sensitive topics and discussions during class sessions, and be careful meeting with students privately. This suggestion was brought about in a slideshow during a campus carry dialogue at the University of Houston, according to the The Houston Chronicle.
While this proposal could decrease some of the anxiety associated with the new law, faculty at the University of Houston have voiced their concerns about the limiting of academic freedom that comes with it. What should be considered ‘too sensitive’ or ‘off limits’? Part of college is grappling with tough, potentially upsetting topics, and managing to educate potentially armed students while feeling afraid to offend them is no simple task.
Slide from recent campus carry dialogue at UH, in response to faculty concerns about dangers from armed students: pic.twitter.com/610RyhDZlf
— Jeff (@JeffintheBowtie) February 22, 2016
But Texas isn’t the only state where university faculty are stuck with this dilemma.
Tom Hochschild, an associate professor of sociology at Valdosta State University in Georgia, told The Valdosta Daily Times that he worries about teaching his subject to students with guns. Georgia’s campus carry bill has been passed by the House and will go to the Senate next, according to Reuters.
“A lot of sociological topics are emotionally charged: race, sexism, classism, inequality, poverty, heterosexism, drug use, religions, violence,” he said. “By having guns in the classroom while talking about these issues, it would make me extremely nervous and apprehensive to broach certain subjects.”
Although the University of Houston has not yet decided specifically where guns will be allowed, a working group is expected to introduce its recommendations in May, according to the The Houston Chronicle.
In response to the signing of the new law, the UH faculty senate passed a resolution opposing the contents of the law, stating that “Weapons designed to end human life have no place in the academic life of the University, except when carried by duly authorized law officers.”
Jonathan Snow, president of the faculty senate, told the The Houston Chronicle that safety concerns from faculty are intensifying as the the working group’s deadline approaches. The final say lies with the UH Board of Regents.
“It’s a terrible state of affairs,” Snow told the Chronicle of Higher Education. “It’s an invasion of gun culture into campus life. We are worried that we have to change the way we teach to accommodate this minority of potentially dangerous students.”