UT-Austin Team to Develop Campus Carry Plans

University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves announced Thursday that he has convened a working group of students, faculty and staff to recommend new rules to comply with a state law allowing people to carry guns on public college campuses.

State lawmakers passed the campus carry legislation this spring, but it doesn't go into effect until 2016. It was originally written to allow the concealed carry of handguns on virtually all areas of campus, but it was amended at the last minute to allow schools greater autonomy to choose where guns can and cannot be carried. Each policy must be approved by the school's governing board of regents, and will probably face strict scrutiny from gun rights advocates and opponents of the law. 

Fenves' group will also include members representing parents and alumni. It will be chaired by professor Steven Goode, a criminal law expert in the UT-Austin law school. 

"The Working Group will seek input from students, staff, faculty and other members of the UT community in the coming months and complete its work of recommending policies to me by late November," Fenves said in a campuswide e-mail. 

Members will be split into to subgroups — one that will focus on safety and another that will deal with training and communication. 

"My goal is to develop a campus carry policy through which we preserve an environment that is worthy of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni and our role as flagship public research university," Fenves said. 

The group has already released an online survey to gauge campus opinion. 

The full membership of the committee is below:

Chair
Steven Goode, School of Law

Dean’s Representative
Lynn Crismon, Dean, College of Pharmacy

Faculty Representatives
Steven Biegalski, Cockrell School of Engineering
Mechele Dickerson, School of Law
Coleman Hutchison, College of Liberal Arts
Victor Saenz, College of Education
William (Bill) Spelman, LBJ School of Public Affairs

Staff Representatives
Leticia Acosta, McCombs School of Business
Glen Baum, Cockrell School of Engineering
Stacey Bennett, Division of Housing and Food Service

Student Representatives
Rachel Osterloh, President, Senate College of Councils
Xavier Rotnofsky, President, Student Government
Brian Wilkey, President, Graduate Student Assembly

Parent Representative
Sandra Blount, Sugar Land, Texas

Alumni Representative
The Honorable Wallace Jefferson, Distinguished Alumnus of UT Austin, Austin, Texas

Special Collections Representative
Stephen Enniss, Director, Harry Ransom Center

Subcommittee Chairs
Janet Dukerich, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Bob Harkins, Associate Vice President, Campus Safety and Security

Ex-officio Representative
Carlos Martinez, Associate Vice President, Office of the President

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