Jamaica Observer ( Jamaica )
21 February 2023 ( Page 3 )
UWI squabble
Mona campus tense after Sunday afternoon clash
These video grabs show University of the West Indies students protesting on the Mona campus Sunday night.
THE security team at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona is downplaying an incident that took place there on Sunday, in which a student alleged that he was accosted by a firearm holder.
The incident, which occurred about 5:30 pm at the Mona Bowl during a sporting event between Chancellor Hall and Mary Seacole Hall, was followed by a fiery protest among students on Sunday night.
The Chancellor Hall student who said he was the victim of the attack, claimed that following a heated conversation with a resident advisor of Mary Seacole Hall, he was pounced upon by unknown assailants, one of whom had a gun.
“Two men came on the campus yesterday (Sunday), one with a firearm, one unarmed, and they proceeded to directly come towards me asking why I ‘dissed’ their so and so mother,” he told the Jamaica Observer during an interview on Monday.
“One assaulted me by holding onto my shirt, while the other one with the firearm [stood] directly behind him like they wanted to inflict some type of force,” he added.
The incident, he said, left him badly shaken as it brought back memories of other tragic circumstances.
“I went through similar situations like that before, so it really was horrendous. So when the man dem jump the wall, I saw that they were coming towards me, so I had to remain calm in that situation so it wouldn’t escalate,” he said.
Videos showing the protest have been circulating on social media platforms Instagram and Twitter. In the videos, students were heard chanting, “Nadeen must go.”
According to the student, the protest was sparked due to efforts by Mary Seacole Hall Student Services and Development Manager (SSDM) Dr Nadeen Spence to rubbish his claims, despite not being present when the incident occurred.
At the same time, director of security at The UWI Norman Heywood rejected notions of a gun attack on the student.
He told the Observer that two men entered the school premises, one of whose licensed firearm was exposed.
“There wasn’t any gun attack on any student on Sunday. I think the incident was blown out of proportion. What actually took place was that there was some dispute between persons who attended a sporting event down at the Bowl. There was some dispute with the referee... and so two of the members there had a discussion about it,” he said.
“You might have heard Ms Spence’s name being mentioned. It was when she was away. The report is that someone called two men, who were basically known to Miss Spence, because she was being disrespected,” he said.
“My investigation and the report coming from the police say that the man did not pull his firearm from his waistband. It was exposed and the students who saw the firearm became very agitated and it escalated. The police did their investigation and temporarily seized the firearm, took the man to the station, ensured the firearm was licensed and asked persons who were saying that the man pulled the firearm to take a statement and nobody went, so they released the man,” he shared.
In the meantime, Heywood said that investigations are ongoing as statements are being collected from students about the matter.
He also said that there is more effort to strengthen security on the campus with assistance from the police, as certain areas are being given better attention.
“It’s not like there is any overhanging threat against students or anybody, but we are still not letting our guards down. We are trying to keep students safe as possible,” he said.
In a release on Monday, the Office of the Guild of Students made a few recommendations in response to the incident, including the immediate removal of the resident advisor alleged to have been involved in the confrontation, if the allegations against her are found to be true. It also asked that counselling support be provided to the students who witnessed and were exposed to the confrontation.
The guild also requested that an investigation be conducted on the alleged role of the SSDM in the matter, during which time she should be placed on unpaid leave until the investigations have concluded and asked that their calls be addressed by Wednesday.
Calls made to Spence’s phone went unanswered up to press time.