The Red and Black

Sex offenders

The Univ. has failed to effectively check applicants and inform students.

A few weeks ago, The Red & Black uncovered a shocking truth: a University student is a registered sex offender.

It took only an hour to cross-check local sex offenders with the University directory.

This finding raises several questions and worries for students, the first being how the student was even accepted into the University.

Although each of the 15,000 applications annually submitted to the University are evaluated individually, the Admissions Office verifies the SAT scores on applications with The College Board, but it gives those who do not mark if they have been convicted of a crime the benefit of the doubt.

Although the sex offender attending the University is registered on the sex offender registry, he said he did not answer yes to being convicted a felon on his application.

Trusting those who have broken the law to be openly honest about their crimes isn't exactly ideal. The University's lack of action illustrates negligence of the administrators to keep students safe.

In addition, an applicant with a competitive GPA and standardized test scores may have been rejected admission to the University because a felon (unbeknownst to the University) was admitted.

Our purpose is not to accuse and assign scarlet letters but rather highlight a problem which jeopardizes the safety and integrity of our campus. In the future, the Admissions Office should cross reference the names sex offenders to the pool of applicants.

Under current laws, employers and schools have the right to reject the hiring or admission of an applicant based on criminal history. We aren't saying those with a less than favorable past should be denied a higher education, however, knowledge of their presence is crucial to students feeling comfortable on their campus.

University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson, who has known about the sex offender for nearly two months, said there is no way to effectively inform the University. However, the University of Texas has found a method. UT Police provide a list of registered offenders on their Web site.

We believe it is the University's duty to reveal sex offender identities.

Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act of 2000 provides the tracking of convicted, registered sex offenders enrolled as students, workers and volunteers at higher education institutions. It requires this information to be available to law enforcement agencies in the jurisdiction of the campus.

This is a call to the administration to provide the names of convicted felons and those who have plead guilty to crimes in a registered sex offender notification. On a campus where there have been several sexual harassment problems over the past several years, it is well past the time for the University to make positive changes.

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