Old Dominion University is asking current students to answer questions about their criminal histories after an ROTC instructor was killed and two students were injured.
The perpetrator was also a student and pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges in 2017, for which he spent eight years in prison.
Framing the request as “an additional step to further strengthen our awareness and support the campus community,” the email from the university registrar’s office includes a questionnaire that asks each student to share their past felony convictions.
“This is not a routine request, but it reflects our commitment to thoughtfully consider every appropriate measure to support a safe and informed campus community,” reads the email, which was shared with WHRO by several students.
When asked how collecting this information will make the university safer, ODU public relations officials wrote "Campus safety requires a layered approach, and no single measure can fully prevent acts of violence. This questionnaire is one component of a broader effort focused on awareness, coordination, and support."
Virginia law prohibits universities from asking about criminal histories on applications or denying admission based on them. After someone is admitted but before they are enrolled, the law allows universities to ask about prior convictions and to rescind admissions if the school feels someone’s criminal history makes them “a threat to the institution’s community.”
The law doesn’t say what a university can do with that information after the student has enrolled, and it’s not clear what ODU plans to do.
The email included a list of anticipated questions, accompanied by answers from the university.
Under a question asking if acknowledging prior convictions will result in expulsion, the university writes, “each situation will be reviewed thoughtfully and individually. A prior conviction does not automatically result in disciplinary action or any specific outcome.”
ODU officials reiterated the same statement when asked by WHRO what ODU plans to do with the criminal history information it is collecting.
On whether the questionnaire is mandatory and what penalties students who refuse would face, the university only writes, “We are confident that students will recognize the importance of this matter to our safety on campus.”
ODU officials confirmed to WHRO Friday afternoon the questionnaire is not mandatory.
"There are no direct disciplinary consequences, account holds, or restrictions associated with choosing not to respond for currently enrolled students," public relations staff wrote in an email.
Students skeptical, urge transparency
Ethan Perritt received the email late Thursday. He found it "vaguely threatening" and said he thinks the university is looking for scapegoats.
“It feels like an unnecessary invasion of privacy, basically asking me to prove that I'm clean, that I'm a good non-terrorist, I'm not a criminal because something bad happened to the community," he said.
Perritt, now an undergraduate teaching assistant planning to start a master's program in the fall, said he worries this measure amounts to "giving into fear and blaming," which he believes is the opposite of how the university and community should respond to last week's shooting.
"I don't want things to get worse in the name of safety," Perritt said. "I don't want this person who was trying to inflict terror on us to actually inflict terror, because if we give in to that, then he accomplished his mission.”
Drew Lusher, a Ph.D. student studying public policy and administration at ODU, said he sees ODU's email as emotionally manipulative of a student body still grappling with tragedy.
“I just don't see the link between what they're asking us to do and how that's ‘a part of our shared responsibility for caring for one another.’ I think there are other ways to go about that, and this questionnaire is not that,” he said.
He also said the university needs to be up front about the reasons behind the request.
“I don't see how the questionnaire and the data they're trying to gather contributes to a safer community. And so my reaction when reading this email was that it actually raises more questions than it answers, and it just lacks the transparency that I feel the university should be offering given this situation last week,” he said.
“If you are trying to gather this information for a specific reason, just say that. And if you can't say that, if you can't be transparent and crystal clear on why you're asking for this information, then maybe there is something to be concerned about there.”
Both Perritt and Lusher told WHRO they don’t have criminal histories but won’t be responding to the questionnaire out of principle.
