Employees and staff of UNC expressed frustration and anxiety during the latest meeting of the Employee Forum following the university’s response to a potential armed gunman on campus.
The group, made up of non-faculty and non-student members of the university, met virtually for their regular meeting on Wednesday. In addition to discussing business items, several members of the forum shared their emotions and reactions to the events of Friday, when UNC’s alert system shared messages saying an armed person was at the Ambulatory Care Center on campus.
Chair of the Forum Shayna Hill was one of the many people nearby that day. On Wednesday, she described hiding under her desk after reading the Alert Carolina messages, staying there for more than an hour with her lights off. Hill said despite the “all clear” message issued about 40 minutes after the initial alert, she remained hidden in case there was a second armed suspect.
Despite the university ultimately reporting no evidence of a person with a weapon was found, Hill said the effects of being told an “armed and dangerous” person was nearby still linger for her and others.
“It really feels like there is a population that was traumatized on Friday that [is] still sitting in their trauma,” she said. “That may have been exacerbated by what is currently happening.”
UNC leadership issued a statement about the Alert Carolina messages following an examination of security footage and a police sweep of the Ambulatory Care Center. George Battle, Vice Chancellor of Institutional Integrity and Risk Management, said the alerts were issued before law enforcement had confirmed the presence of an active threat, but commended local authorities and UNC Police for their quick response.
Katie Musgrove, a business officer for the School of Law and Vice Chair for the forum, said the university should have been more descriptive following the “all clear” message. She said on Wednesday the time officials spent looking for evidence left the campus community largely uninformed.
“The confusion in the hours following what happened was not helped by any of the communication sent out by the university,” said Musgrove. “And there were differing narratives of what actually happened, which added to the confusion.”
Discussion of the Friday incident led the forum members to bring up a recent survey of UNC staff and employees, conducted by the group in late August and early September. One of the top issues identified among employees is a belief there is a lack of transparency between the university and failure to clearly and directly communicate. That communication also rings true for the issue of coronavirus guidelines, which was the initial purpose of the Employee Forum survey.
The survey found in addition to providing clear information about positive cases, employees wish the university would improve protection of vulnerable staff, take responsibility for elements of COVID-19 spread on campus during the fall semester and fix a culture of “mistrust” between the administration and campus community after the failure of in-person classes.
Most staff and employees in Wednesday’s meeting are deep into preparation for students to return to campus in January. UNC announced in October plans to again return some of the campus community for on-campus instruction during the spring 2021 semester, with more guidelines in place to prevent the virus’ spread.
Keith Hines, a forum delegate who works for the Carolina Union Administration, said in addition to the stresses and risk this occurs, staff have also been put under recent stress due to decisions from the UNC System and state government. He compared employees’ empathy to a gas tank, saying his impression is most people are beginning to wear thin harboring concerns for others while struggling with their own pressures.
“We have gone for nearly two years now without any type of budget updates,” he said referencing the state-level budget stalemate. “And if you add on top of that, we were in a place last year where we didn’t know what our health insurance was going to look like. All this time, we’ve had to be empathetic to others, be empathetic to students, be compassionate to everything that’s going on. I think it’s getting to the point where the ’empathy tank’ is empty.”
Hill echoed this sentiment, saying she believes the focus of UNC administration has largely been on providing support and understanding to students and faculty since the pandemic disrupted operations. But she said it has left the remaining campus community members feeling ignored.
“Somehow, it doesn’t feel like these messages are directed at staff,” said Hill. “It feels like these conversations are reserved for students. [To mirror] what Keith said, I would do anything for these students: they are our future. We need them to grow up and be great leaders.”
“But staff are hurting” she added, “and it just feels like the trauma keeps coming.”
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