Mary Washington president’s security test stirs debate

The president of the University of Mary Washington has formed a task force to study campus safety after she pressed an emergency alarm and didn't like the response she received.

During an annual safety walk, Mary Washington President Judy G. Hample called university police from the "blue light" alarm system in a parking deck and said she needed help.

What happened next has caused a stir on the Fredericksburg campus over whether she made a false police report or was acting responsibly to assess university safety procedures.

"This clearly is within the president's purview to test the systems on campus and make sure they're operating the way they should be," said Torre Meringolo, vice president for advancement and university relations. He said Hample feels the response could have been quicker.

He said it took six to eight minutes for the police to reach Hample, who was with about a dozen others, including Executive Vice President Richard V. Hurley and members of the Student Government Association.

Campus police were not alerted to Hample's plan to test the system during the Sept. 30 safety walk.

The Bullet, the university's student newspaper, reported Wednesday that according to police records, Hample technically filed a false report but no charges would be filed. The paper also reported that when Hample summoned police, she reported she was a student.

Meringolo said police were not informed of the plan because during last year's safety walk the same exercise got no response from the police, who knew it was a test.

"Based on last year's test, it shouldn't have surprised anyone that there would have been a test this year," he said.

Campus police responded this time by sending two police units and foot patrols for a campus sweep.

That response posed a potential hazard to others on campus as police sped to the scene, the head of security told the student newspaper.

"We would have taken [the assailant] down at gunpoint," Mark Sandor, executive director of police and security services, told The Bullet.

Sandor, reached Friday, said he could not comment on either the safety walk incident or The Bullet report.

Meringolo said the university had checked with the state attorney general's office Thursday and had been assured there were no grounds for criminal charges to be filed.

He said that during the test, the president had "identified herself as Judy Hample and everyone on this campus knows who Judy Hample is."

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or .