Campus Update for October 25, 2022

Dear Grinnell students, faculty, staff, and families,

We have seen increasing use of the bias incident reporting mechanism and thank you for reporting.  The information you share is helpful in our ongoing work with community partners for accountability.

Today’s campus update provides new information on the following topics:

• Reporting
• Cooperation with the City of Grinnell
• Cameras
• InformaCast safety app
• Transportation

Reporting

Creating a trustworthy and coordinated reporting system is key to accountability. The Bias Incident Reporting Team continues to work on the reporting process and has added new fields to the reporting form that will enable enhanced coordination for greater effectiveness. Anyone reporting a Bias Incident now has the option to choose to be contacted by one or more of the following offices: 

• Division of Student Affairs 
• Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 
• Campus Safety (to further investigate for campus purposes) 
• Grinnell Police Department (to further investigate for a crime) 
• None of the above 

Cooperation with the City of Grinnell

College leadership continues to meet with city officials including City Manager, Russ Behrens, and Police Chief Michael McClelland. The focus of these meetings has been to enhance coordination in the investigation of racist vandalism and harassment and find those responsible.

Earlier today local philanthropic organizations issued a message of support.  The Claude W. & Dolly Ahrens Foundation and the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation sent a message asking citizens to help report and identify those responsible for racist harassment and vandalism and to participate in bystander training.

Cameras

Last week, representatives from the College met with a selected vendor regarding the purchase and placement of cameras.  Phase I of the project will include installation of ten cameras on 8th and 10th Streets between Park Street and East Street.  A timeline will be communicated when finalized.

InformaCast Safety App

Technical development and testing are in progress.  Instructions and training will be provided once the app is available. Anyone interested in participating in end-user testing may contact emergmgmt@grinnell.edu.

Transportation 

The Local Shuttle will continue to stop at the Conney M. Kimbo Black Cultural Center (BCC) as a part of its regular route. The local shuttle runs from 4 to 10 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. 

Safe Rides are available for on-call transportation anywhere on campus, to off campus residences or from off campus residences to campus, and to Kum and Go.  Safe Rides can be contacted through Campus Safety dispatch (4600 on campus or 641-269-4600). As a reminder, the Safe Rides service is available 24/7 and will be supplemented by the Dean on-call from 8 p.m. to midnight should a student prefer an alternative to Campus Safety.

The next update will be on Friday, October 28.

Respectfully,

Anne F. Harris, President