PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Temple University students are protesting what they say is a lack of action from the university's administration to protect them against crime.
A group of about 80 students gathered Tuesday afternoon at a skate park on the Temple campus, took to Broad Street and walked all around the campus, and stopped at significant offices around campus including the administration building.
Chanting "Temple U., do better,” "we can't learn if we are not safe," and “Wingard, do better” in reference to Temple University President Jason Wingard, they called for the administration to do something to protect students after what they say is a rise in campus violence the last four years.
Their protests come in the wake of a long series of violent crimes on or near the campus, including:
- The deadly shooting of Temple University Police Officer Chris Fitzgerald just blocks from campus less than two weeks ago.
- The targeted shooting of a 17-year-old right by a memorial at the location where Fitzgerald was killed.
- The vandalization of a car by the campus on Super Bowl Sunday.
- A series of home invasions at student apartments including gunpoint robberies back in November.
- A night last May where five people were shot near the campus.
- The killing of a 15-year-old last April one block from the Temple campus.
- Two deadly shootings near the campus in late November 2021, one that killed Temple student Sam Collington.
- The deadly shooting of an 18-year-old earlier in November 2021 near the campus.
Related
The students who protested on campus say they are extremely afraid. They say they feel that the university does not have their best interests at heart, and they're not doing anything to protect them.
Veronica Wynn said that a lot of her fellow students are thinking about transferring out of Temple University to other schools, and that parents are very concerned.
“Students and families feel afraid that their kids are going to a school where the administration is simply not doing enough,” said Wynn. “I'm a student who got involved in an incident right over here at the subway station where a woman was being brutally beat down.”
That's just one account of what students say are many different incidents of crime on and around the university campus including sexual assaults and robberies, and the protesters say they just want to be heard.
"We just feel abandoned,” said student Mila Ferraro. “It's hard because we are going to be committed to the community, but we are scared to leave our houses and our dorms."
According to a student organizer, Temple University President Jason Wingard and the administration said they are willing to sit down with students later this week, talk with them, and work out a solution.
Related
After Collington’s death in 2021, the university announced student safety plan changes including a 50% increase in the campus safety force, greater patrols off-campus by Philadelphia police, upgraded security cameras, emergency phones and lighting on campus, and student shuttle services becoming more widespread.
In March 2022, a survey revealed how students felt much less safe walking the campus at night compared to during the day.
KYW Newsradio reached out to the Temple University president’s office for comment, and they shared this statement.
“Temple University has always had a strong, proud history of peaceful protests, and we support and welcome demonstrations like we saw today. We also share our students’ concerns. We have contacted the leaders of Temple Student Government and Keep Us Safe TU to continue a dialogue that included two town halls in the last month reflecting students’ concerns in this effort. We look forward to meeting with student leaders later this week.
“Gun violence is a national scourge destroying the fabric of US society. Our Temple community has not been spared from its wrath. This is a systemic issue and must be solved through a holistic approach. Many of our long-term initiatives have already been outlined. We have also expanded our walking escort system, launched the Best Nest Program, joined the Civic Coalition to Save Lives and we will welcome eight new police officers from the police academy in March. We recognize we have more work ahead of us, and we are ready.
“As an institution of higher education, our primary goal is educating our students and to do this, we all (city, state, university, partners) have to strive to ensure the safety of this city and our community. We have already been in contact with key stakeholders across both the city and state to expand our action plan, and we will provide an update on that shortly.”
Nina Baratti, Tim Jimenez and KYW Staff contributed to this story.