Campus Safety Relations Committee formed, to meet in January

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A committee designed to help ensure cooperation and collaboration between the Purdue University Police Department and the West Lafayette campus community will begin meeting in January.

Venetria Patton, professor of English and interdisciplinary studies and a member of the University’s Diversity Leadership Team, and Purdue Police Chief John Cox announced the formation of the committee, which will meet regularly through the spring semester to develop a scope of work, goals and objectives.

Patton said the committee is made up of representatives of a wide array of faculty, staff and students in order to gain the best input as they work to advocate for and advance efforts around diversity and inclusion for all students at Purdue.

“Our intent is to ensure a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship between our students and our police department,” Patton said, “and to develop culturally responsive practices through training and two-way information sharing.”

A group of Purdue students, in a meeting with President Mitch Daniels in November, requested a committee to address police and student interactions. Daniels told students in a Nov. 24 letter that he had directed the Campus Safety Relations Committee be constituted immediately.

“PUPD has always worked hard to communicate and have dialogue with the Purdue community through several programs, including our annual Citizens Police Academy,” Cox said. “This new group promises to be one more tool for us to better understand our community and for the community, in turn, to better understand us.”

Members of the committee are:

Co-Chairs

Venetria Patton, Professor, English and Interdisciplinary Studies, College of Liberal Arts, and Provost Fellow on Diversity and Inclusion

John Cox, Chief, Purdue University Police Department

Staff

Kevin Ply, Chief, Purdue University Fire Department

Capt. Keene Red Elk, PUPD

Lt. Song Kang, PUPD

Brandon J. Cutler, Associate Dean of Students/Director of Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life, Office of the Dean of Students

Christa Pazera, Senior Associate Director, Residential Life, Housing and Residential Life

Jessica Teets, Coordinator, University Policy Office, Ethics and Compliance

Renee Thomas, Director, Black Cultural Center

Aurelio Curbelo, Director, Latino Cultural Center

Victoria Loong, Director, Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center

Felica Ahasteen-Bryant, Director, Native American Educational and Cultural Center

Lowell Kane, Director, LGBTQ Center

Rae Lynn Boes, Library Operations Manager, Administrative and Professional Staff Advisory Committee

Cindy Cory, Secretary, School of Mechanical Engineering, Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee

Kathy Dietz, Manager of Production, Convocations

Students

Saurabh Kadam, President, Residence Hall Association

Joseph Sinise, President, Interfraternity Council

Michael Bailey, President, Panhellenic Association

Jordan Hainje, President, Purdue Cooperative Council

Sebastian Kenny, Diversity & Inclusion Director, Purdue Student Government

Sascha Angermann, Senator, Purdue Graduate Student Government

Faculty

David Rollock—Associate Professor, Psychological Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences

J. Eric Dietz—Director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and Professor, Computer and Information Technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute