In the aftermath of a gathering of white nationalists that at times turned violent, the University of Virginia is reviewing its rules about what can happen on its campus. The university will also hire a contractor to review its current safety infrastructure and more staff members and police officers “to ensure safety and security across Grounds as the semester begins.”
The news comes in a statement from Risa Goluboff, dean of the law school, who will serve as chair of a recently announced task force assembled by the university’s president, Teresa A. Sullivan.
“Our tasks ahead are short-term and long-term,” the statement read. “They are about physical safety and emotional well-being; they are as practical as revising policies and as lofty as advancing human progress; and they will require us to examine what we need to do within our own community and ask what we can do beyond it.”
Violence erupted at the university last weekend after tiki-torch-wielding marchers — some carrying flags with Nazi imagery — descended on the campus. Several university employees said they were injured in the protests, and one later suffered a stroke.
A 32-year-old woman, Heather D. Heyer, died on Saturday in Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia, when a motorist plowed into a crowd protesting the presence of white nationalists. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder in her death.
Some have criticized the university’s response to the gathering, and Ms. Sullivan has previously said that response needed to be examined.
Regarding the review, Ms. Goluboff wrote that the university’s general counsel is already “exploring revisions to our policies regarding activities that can be constitutionally proscribed on our Grounds.”
