On this West Virginia Week, we look at who’s eligible for absentee voting in the Mountain State and how to apply. Plus, a flight school for future pilots – hundreds of miles from the main campus. We’ll also delve into the vaccine divide as students head back to class.
On this West Virginia Week, we look at who’s eligible for absentee voting in the Mountain State and how to apply.
Plus, a flight school for future pilots – hundreds of miles from the main campus.
We’ll also delve into the vaccine divide as students head back to class.
Maria Young is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick and Maria Young.
With the fall athletic season ready to kick off, universities are making the final adjustments to ensure a safe season.
Senate Bill 10 – more commonly known as the Campus Carry Bill – has been implemented on all of the state’s higher education campuses since July. But as students begin to return to campus, one of the law’s major exceptions is beginning to take shape for college sports fans.
The creation of Senate Bill 10 during the 2023 legislative session ultimately included several exceptions to where and when concealed carry permit holders can have their handguns on campus. Campus carry does not extend to disciplinary hearings, for example, in daycare centers or at events with 1,000 or more attendants.
That last exception most notably applies to almost all collegiate sporting events. And with the fall athletic season ready to kick off, universities are making the final adjustments to ensure a safe season.
Ryan Crisp is the associate athletic director for annual giving, ticket sales and fan engagement for Marshall University. He said it quickly became clear that the university would need to implement more comprehensive screening of fans entering stadiums.
“So we knew we needed an expanded concourse, which is why we built the fences,” Crisp said. “We have to have the open gate weapon detectors upon entry to screen our patrons and our fans, and then the no re-entry comes about, just with for one, getting us in line with most Division One universities and concert venues, while also – from a crowd management standpoint – allowing entry into our venues and making sure that we can screen everyone in a timely manner and proper.”
Marshall’s ‘Safe To Stay With The Herd’ initiative includes, as Crisp mentioned, expanded fencing at Joan C. Edward Stadium — placing security checkpoints further away from the stadium — and opening gates 30 minutes earlier than normal. Crisp said the changes should not impact entry, and that the university is taking advantage of the extra fenced-in area to not only ensure fan safety, but to also create a better fan experience with food trucks, a Family Zone and a memorabilia display.
“We understand that for some fans, this is going to be a change for them and a change in their behavior from what they’ve done for a very long time,” Crisp said. “But, you know, we really try to invest in the experience within the stadium, to try to make it as enjoyable as possible.”
In a statement emailed to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Fairmont State University said the law’s 1,000-person minimum capacity requirement will mean Duvall-Rosier Field and Joe Retton Arena will both be gun-free zones during all events. Attendees will be notified of this via event advertising and signage, and uniformed law enforcement will be on hand for events at these facilities.
Our Board Policy GA-08 prohibits “all Deadly Weapons, including Concealed Pistols and Revolvers” … “at an organized event taking place at a stadium or arena with a capacity of more than 1,000 spectators”. As a result,
Fairmont State’s Duvall-Rosier Field and Joe Retton Area will both be gun-free zones during all events. Attendees will be notified of this via event advertising, signage throughout campus including parking areas and event specific signage. As always, uniformed law enforcement will be on hand for events at these facilities.
Fairmont State remains focused on using the implementation of “Campus Carry” to model the type of society we want to live in: A society in which conversations about difficult topics occur in a respectful and constructive fashion. A society in which all parties’ rights are respected and their concerns are heard.
To do so, the University will be requesting feedback from students, faculty, and staff related to Campus Carry implementation throughout the semester. This will allow the conversation to continue and policy adjustments to be made as needed.
– Fairmont State University
April Kaull is the executive director of communications for University Relations at West Virginia University, and also serves as the chair of the university’s Campus Safety Communications Committee. She said WVU has not adjusted its entry times or fencing, and fans should not notice a change other than having to walk through metal detectors.
“The process isn’t going to be like what some people would be familiar with at an airport,” Kaull said. “For example, fans aren’t going to have to empty out their clear bags or their pockets. They won’t have to put their cell phones, their keys, you know, other belongings in a little tray separately. They’ll just be able to walk right through these detectors, and it’s only if the detector signals through its light and alarm system that additional attention is necessary.”
For fans who are legally carrying concealed, both Kaull and Crisp confirmed that there will not be storage options for handguns in athletic facilities. Kaull emphasized that as Campus Carry continues to be implemented, it’s important for staff, faculty and fans to all familiarize themselves with the new reality.
“Do a little research in advance, visit our campus carry website. Get a sense of where campus carry is and is not permitted under the law and our Board of Governors’ rule,” Kaull said. “The website has a lot of information, including that interactive map and a list of locations and buildings, and if they have any concern or question about whether a pistol or revolver is going to be permitted where they are going, then probably the best advice is to play it safe and leave it in your vehicle, or don’t bring it to begin with, because there won’t be places on campus once you’re here to stow it if you find yourself having to be in an area where it’s not permitted.”
The fall athletic season kicks off this week with men and women’s soccer events, and the football season kicks off the final weekend in August.
On this West Virginia Morning, Senate Bill 10 — widely known as the campus carry bill — was implemented on all West Virginia college campuses this summer. But with students returning to campus, one of the law’s major exceptions is taking shape for college sports fans. Chris Schulz has more.
On this West Virginia Morning, Senate Bill 10 — widely known as the campus carry bill — was implemented on all West Virginia college campuses this summer. But with students returning to campus, one of the law’s major exceptions is taking shape for college sports fans. Chris Schulz has more.
Also this episode, Marshall University has expanded its degree program for professional pilots into the Eastern Panhandle. This fall, students can pair online classes with in-person training at an airport in Martinsburg. Eastern Panhandle Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Nancy Ritter, director of Marshall’s Bill Noe Flight School, about the program expansion and efforts to recruit new pilots more broadly.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.
Maria Young produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
Campus Carry passed the West Virginia Legislature during the regular session in 2023 and is now in effect at universities and colleges across the state.
A law allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry a firearm onto the campus of any of the state’s higher education institutions goes into effect July 1.
On a morning in late June, Brian Selmeski demonstrated the utility of one of Fairmont State University’s new gun locker rooms on the ground floor of a residence hall. The lockers were set into the wall, just big enough to hold a holstered firearm along with a small amount of ammunition.
“For this side of campus, we’ve installed 24 safes,” Selmeski said. “In the other residence hall, we have 48 gun safes. They are both in rooms that are cinder block construction, they will have electronic access, which will be set by the University Police Department. They have cameras internally so we ensure that we have eyes on these firearms at all times.”
Fairmont State University Director of Housing and Residence Life Jeremiah Kibler opens the door to one of the two residence halls on campus equipped with gun lockers.
Photo by Chris Schulz/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Selmeski is the chief of staff at Fairmont State University, where the infrastructure is largely in place for the implementation of Senate Bill 10, commonly known as Campus Carry. The law requires all colleges and universities to allow concealed carry permit holders to have weapons on campus with certain limitations, such as large campus events and residence halls. Hence the lockers.
Selmeski said the university is looking at Campus Carry as an opportunity.
A closeup of some of the stickers used on Fairmont State University’s campus to designate firearm storage and prohibited areas for Campus Carry.
Photo by Chris Schulz/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“We have constituencies that have strong opinions, some pro, some con,” he said. “How do we ensure we are ideologically neutral and use this as an opportunity to model the sort of civil discourse that universities are here to help foster and that our country really desperately needs right now?”
After many attempts spanning more than five years, Campus Carry passed the West Virginia Legislature during the regular session in 2023.
Previously, each university decided for themselves whether to allow firearms on campus, with most opting against. West Virginia University President Gordon Gee and Marshall University President Brad Smith published a joint statement during the session in opposition to the law, as did some of the state’s smaller universities.
“We don’t have the luxury of taking an opinion or taking a position on this law,” Selmeski said. “We need especially to model that civil discourse that I keep coming back to, make students who choose to exercise this right feel comfortable. We also need to be cognizant of the fact that it makes some of their student peers uncomfortable. So the last thing we want to do is comply with the letter of the law in a way that creates tensions between students. That’s how we’re approaching the lockers.”
SB 10 included no state funding for its implementation, and at the onset there were concerns about the ultimate cost. Fairmont State estimates they spent just over $13,000 on signage and gun lockers, but that does not include other line items including new cameras and card readers. Marshall University appropriated around $300,000 to prepare for Campus Carry.
Officials at WVU estimate they have spent around $1 million across their three primary campuses to comply with the law.
Gov. Jim Justice signed SB 10 in March of 2023, and schools had the ensuing 16 months to prepare. They’ve used all the time given to them, forming committees and holding campus conversations. WVU’s Board of Governors approved their campus carry rule in April. Fairmont State’s governors approved theirs less than three weeks ago, in June.
Corey Farris is the dean of students at West Virginia University, where students will be able to access gun lockers at residence halls at a cost of $140 per semester.
“I’d say we’re pretty much ready,” Farris said. “I mean, we still have probably a few stickers to put up on some of the offices and then just this last minute communication, just reminding people that July 1 the law takes effect.”
WVU allows single-occupancy offices to be exempt from campus carry. Speaking in front of a gun locker room in a residence hall on WVU’s Morgantown campus, Farris said just over 320 staff members have requested their offices be exempt.
That is significantly higher than the number of students that have requested access to the new lockers so far, of which there are 120 on the Morgantown campus alone.
“We’ve had four students who are living in the residence halls who’ve made that request,” Farris said. “Potomac State zero students have made that request WVU Tech, one student has made that request for a locker.
Most universities exempt on-campus health and mental health clinics from the Campus Carry requirements.
Photo by Chris Schulz/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia is now the twelfth state to allow campus carry, and officials at all of the schools that WVPB contacted for this story said they had spoken with their counterparts in states like Georgia, Texas and Tennessee that have already implemented their own versions of campus carry. Farris said colleagues at other state schools have told him implementation is the hardest period.
“We weren’t doing a one-time build,” he said. “We’re building this out for many years. We just want to be ready and not underprepared. It’s better to be over prepared.”
Schools across the state will be reassessing their approaches to storage, restrictions and many of the other smaller details of campus carry for years to come.
“Until we get it up and running and tweaking it, no plan survives first contact. So we’ll see how it works out,” said James Terry, director of Public Safety for Marshall University. He said their emphasis will be on personal responsibility.
“We put the responsibility on the permit holder,” Terry said. “If they’re gonna live in the residence hall, they have to lease a gun safe from a vendor, which we already have. We did not build a safe room or gun room.”
Terry said education is just as much for concealed carry permit holders on campus, as well as for the rest of the population.
“The big cultural shift for us will be, in my opinion, just educating the public on what concealed carry is,” Terry said. “You read the law, it has to be concealed at all times. But if it prints on the shirt, it’s still concealed if it’s underneath that shirt, you know, so we’re, we’re talking about our responses to that.”
That is one of the intangibles that schools will have to address moving forward, especially the perceptions around having firearms on campus and in classrooms. Selmeski said the gap between being safe and feeling safe on campus can create tension.
“Statistically, campus carry does not increase the risk of gun violence on campus,” he said. “That does absolutely nothing to make people feel safe. It’s a number, it’s not their lived reality. So how do we address the lived reality? We, we have open fora, we have robust communication, we make the complex more simple so folks can understand it.”
Whether the school communities are ready or not, the schools themselves have the necessary infrastructure in place.
On this West Virginia Morning, roughly 20,000 people traveled to Braxton County for an annual Bigfoot Festival hosted in the small town of Sutton. One of them was Reporter Briana Heaney, who spoke to festival goers about the annual celebration of cryptids.
On this West Virginia Morning, roughly 20,000 people traveled to Braxton County for an annual Bigfoot Festival hosted in the small town of Sutton. One of them was reporter Briana Heaney, who spoke to festival goers about the annual celebration of cryptids.
Plus, new legislation takes effect today that allows permit holders to carry a firearm on any college campus in West Virginia. Reporter Chris Schulz spoke to some of these schools about how they’re preparing for the change.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.
Eric Douglas produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
Shepherd University in the Eastern Panhandle is encouraging conversations with its students and faculty on how to deal with a new state law allowing concealed weapons on campus.
Shepherd University in the Eastern Panhandle is encouraging conversations with its students and faculty on how to deal with a new state law allowing concealed weapons on campus.
Senate Bill 10, popularly known as the campus carry bill, takes effect July 1, 2024.
As part of the school’s preparations, a closed-door discussion was organized where the school’s community could discuss their thoughts or concerns.
The Stubblefield Institute, an organization that encourages political discussion on campus, helped organize a panel made up of faculty, students, campus police and other school officials.
Executive Director Ashley Horst said it’s a way to encourage open dialogue without debates turning into arguments.
“It’s intimidating to a lot of people who might have questions about the legislation or really about any controversial topic,” Horst said. “So our role at the Institute is to foster that conversation.”
The panel was organized in tandem with the creation of a campus task force. It’s meant to take in input from groups like these to help better prevent shootings from happening on campus.
“We knew that this was going to be a sensitive topic on campus,” Horst said. “And we knew that we could be of assistance in facilitating these conversations.”
Many of the panelists moderating the event are part of this task force. That includes Joshua Stout, assistant professor at the school’s department of sociology, criminology and criminal justice. He helped discuss some of the research on policies across the nation in states that had already enacted campus carry laws, and how that could inform campus decisions moving forward.
“We’re specifically looking at the ways that we can help to ensure that there isn’t an increase in violence on campus, or that there isn’t an increase in suicide or sexual assault,” Stout said.
Stout said the current research on these laws in states that have enacted them has shown neither an increase nor decrease in violent crime on campuses. But he also pointed out criminology research at large does point to an increase of violent crimes alongside more accessibility to firearms.
“It’s kind of that next logical step, right?” Stout said. “Even though there hasn’t been enough longitudinal data on college campuses, if we look at criminology and criminal justice research in general, it’s not hard to kind of make that connection.”
Fellow panelist and Director of Counseling Services Wendy Baracka is concerned about the law from a mental health perspective. An increase of firearms on campus could lead to more suicides among students struggling with mental health problems.
“Self-directed violence or suicide risk is something that is very prevalent on college campuses,” Baracka said. “And there’s a direct connection between access to lethal means and the potential for completed suicides.”
Others in attendance were concerned with the logistics of the new law. Money for new facilities to accommodate things like gun storage is an issue, but there’s also concerns about how safety guidelines would be implemented from students opposed to the new law, like Allison Sawicki.
“We were talking about where the guns are going to be stored,” Sawicki said. “If our roommates were gonna know [if a roommate was carrying], or do the police officers on campus have to know that that person is carrying?”
Other students in support of the law, like Genevieve Blodgett, are worried about separation in the dorms. One idea that was floated during talks was only allowing one residence hall to have firearm storage.
“We’re concerned that they might give us the worst dorm or that they may not give proper funding to put storage facilities everywhere, so that even though we’re allowed to carry, we’re unable to carry in all the buildings where people are populated,” Blodgett said.
Blodgett and Sawicki are roommates and friends with differing views on campus carry. Both of them are engaged in the process to make sure their peers can feel at ease.
“We want to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable with the bill,” Blodgett said. “Both sides, just making sure that everyone realizes what it entails and how to keep everyone safe while having some of these measures in place.”
There are plans to have further discussions about how the school will implement campus safety guidelines before the law goes into place. That includes a similar discussion when new students arrive in the fall. Stout is also planning on creating surveys and focus groups for his research on campus.
Until then, the campus carry task force at Shepherd University is looking at ways to build trust and community as preventative measures so potential incidents of gun violence won’t happen.
“We’re all going to have more of that social trust in one another,” Stout said. “But we’ll also have that social capital and resources that if something is of concern, we already have that established relationship and rapport, where we can talk with each other.”
