“We got a good group of students,” said Paul Gravel, head of Campus Safety, reflecting on the summer from a safety perspective. However there were some serious last minute disciplinary cases adjudicated by the deans and Summer director Elena Gosalvez-Blanco.
The lockdown drill went well, according to Mr. Gravel. Two students were found on campus during the lockdown. One of the students got the notification and the other one did not know what to do. The lockdown drill lasted under twenty minutes and the school was placed in a lockdown in about a minute and a half. That and the fire drill received top ratings from authorities, Ms. Gosalvez-Blanco reported.
At the beginning of the summer, thefts were a weekly thing, but for the past two weeks there have been no money thefts reported. A few backpacks have been misplaced and a missing phone was returned to a student, but the rate of lost items returned to students was higher than years past.
In the last days, three students were dismissed — sent home for major infractions, including egregious failure to attend class. A fourth student was placed on probation for plagiarism. Their names were not made public. But the cases serve as a reminder to students that Exeter’s rules of conduct are enforced.
In past years students never really connected with the campus, but this year was different. “We are thankful to the Exeter Summer administration for letting us do our safety talks,” said Mr. Gravel. He said Campus Safety always tried to identify at risk students before anything occurs with them.
The BMX bikes that were reported missing last week are still missing. Mr. Gravel said he believed that either someone “borrowed” them and left them off campus or someone took them. The school has filed a report with Exeter Police on the theft of the bikes.
The summer session this year from a campus safety point of view has been highly successful, Mr. Gravel repeated many times, “We had a great group of students.”