(Voiced by: Grace Caraway)

Story: The History of Morrison Hall

 

To be quite frank, I do not have a lot of history connected to me. I am Morrison Hall and I was completed in 1970 and have been used as a resident hall throughout my entire existence. Whereas other buildings have changed with time, I look the same as when I was first constructed. In October 2004, a pipe bomb was detonated outside my doors. This was accompanied by a second pipe bomb that was detonated outside of Dressler Hall, another residence hall on campus. There were no injuries due to the bombings, but there was some damage done to me. The two students responsible for these bombings were arrested in November of that same year. Today, I am still used as a residence hall for students and I’m connected to my neighboring residence hall, Streeter Hall, through a shared basement. The history associated with the physical space of my existence provokes questions about campus safety.

 

Question: What’s with All the Bomb Threats at Post-9/11 EWU?

The early 2000’s left the country shaken. There was war, terrorism, and many protests. I felt the effects of this as much as any building would. Jim O’Brien writes in his article, “The Contested Meaning of 9/11,” about the anthrax scare that started a week after September 11th, 2001: “[it] exacerbated the edginess of the political atmosphere. Packages with anthrax powder began showing up in government and media offices, resulting in five deaths and stepped-up security precautions in postal facilities” (11). These packages came with notes aiming to falsely implicate Muslims, riding on the racism following 9/11 towards people from the Middle East. The violence and anxiety from 9/11 still lives within the country, but it wasn’t until the following year, in November 2002, when the university first received a bomb threat. The entire university closed while police searched the campus. It was terrifying. My job was to protect the students who lived here, and… what if I couldn’t? The next threat came in February 2004, along with notes in the PUB and the university president’s house. This incident was reported on in the Easterner and the article has been reproduced below. In October of that same year was when it happened. It hurt when the bomb went off, but no one else was hurt. Just me. The most recent bomb threat was in 2008, again accompanied by a note, and the building threatened was quickly evacuated and searched. In this post-9/11 world, is it still realistic that I can keep students safe? Do the students feel safe and feel like the university has their best interests in mind?

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Dream: Transparency in Student Safety

 

In today’s political climate, the country is again in a state of anxiety and violence. Even this campus is in a state of anxiety and violence. Sure, there hasn’t been a bomb threat on campus in over a decade, but there have been other events that have made me anxious in terms of student safety. The white supremacist flyers that went up on campus in 2018 and the anti-abortion/anti-LGBTQ protesters that came to Eastern just a few weeks back have set students’ teeth on edge. These events have made me wonder, how can I keep my students safe? My dream is that every student feels safe on this campus and that the administration is committed to transparency and a student-centered response to events. The priority should be to keep the students safe. They all have to show up every day to go to class and get their degrees. Many students live on campus or in the surrounding Cheney area. Who, if not the school, should be dedicating to making its students feel safe here? It isn’t always about physical safety, but about the right to feel comfortable in your home, your workplace, and your school. That feeling is priceless. And that feeling is what will keep students coming back, while not feeling safe will push them away.