The recent death of a University of Southern Mississippi student at the campus’ parking garage – the second death in less than two years at that site – has prompted school officials to take measures to better ensure safety at that location.
According to a statement issued by the university on January 22, protective fencing has been installed around the parking garage’s fourth floor, and the fifth floor is no longer accessible to pedestrians and motorists until further notice. Officials also plan to fence the fifth floor after reviewing logistics for that project, in compliance with state laws that govern project bidding.
If all goes according to plan, large trees and shrubbery also will be placed on the perimeters of the garage.
“Health, safety, and wellbeing remain paramount in our decisions, as we have a responsibility for protection of our students,” said Kristi Motter, who serves as USM Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, in the statement. “We will monitor the situation related to the loss of parking spaces and, if needed, employ available options to adapt if it becomes a challenge for students and others who have used those spaces in the past.”
Jonathan Jenkins, who serves as president of the USM Student Government Association, said he is pleased with the improved safety efforts, which is a collaboration between students, faculty, staff and administration.
“The addition of safety structures in the parking garage is a proactive step toward enhancing safety for all Southern Miss students and is part of a broader commitment that includes improving mental health and student support services and ensuring the safety of other areas on campus,” Jenkins said in the statement.
According to a statement issued by USM president Joe Paul on September 29, 2023, a student was found dead the previous evening following an unspecified incident at the parking garage. The student was transferred to a local hospital and passed away “following the night’s tragedy at the parking garage.”
Officials from the university’s police department said there was no associated criminal threat to the campus community, but asked students and travelers to remain clear of the area for the time being.
“To the student’s family and friends, I share in your grief,” Paul’s statement read. “To the entire Southern Miss community, know that I and many, many others care for you.”
Following the incident, staff from the university’s Student Counseling Services reached out to the student’s friends to officer assistance.
Shortly after the most recent incident at the parking garage, USM student Sarah Boone started a petition on www.change.org in an attempt to bring attention to the matter and ensure more stringent safety measures at the five=story facility. That petition, which called for an additional barrier that extends past five or six feet to the current waist-high barrier at the garage, later garnered more than 2,700 signatures.
“There’s something that needs to be done about it, especially since it’s in the center of campus right next to residential dorms where (students) live,” Boone said. “It also affects students’ mental health, and I don’t think anybody wants to have to live through, or experience that, again.
“When I originally started the petition, I had hoped for (that) barrier just on the fifth floor, but even then I think it should extend all the way from the second to the fifth floors. That would prevent accidents and anything like the past few incidents.”
The previous student death at the parking lot occurred in October 2021, in another undisclosed incident at that site.
Following that incident, then-president Rodney Bennett and vice president for student affairs Dee Dee Anderson issued a statement to the university community.
“As longtime university staff members and as the parents of college-aged students, we sympathize with the significant and serious nature of stress and anxiety felt by students,” the statement read. “We want each of you to know that you have significant value, we value your health and well-being, and we care for you.”
