Vandalism shocks officials, suspects unknown

Milledgeville is not home to many acts of public defacement. Yet, the concern of vandalism has already become an issue within the first few weeks of this semester.

On the morning of Sept. 3, local homeowners on South Liberty Street found a tree and five shrubs uprooted from the yard of their house. While there is still no proof as to whether the damage was done by a GCSU student or students, the location of the damaged yard is en route from the Centennial residence halls and The Grove apartments to historic downtown.

Detective Butler from Public Safety uses his own personal experience to speculate on this vandalism.

“If I had to guess I would say it was more than one person involved,” said Butler.

Bruce Harshbarger, Vice President and Dean of Students, says that most acts of vandalism are not planned incidences. Alcohol consumption is usually involved in the decision to damage another’s property.

“The connection between consequence and action usually goes away when the buzz starts,” said Harshbarger.

In the past, GCSU has had a few situations of vandalism per semester. There has been defacement done to numerous campus areas, such as the bobcat face, newly paved sidewalks and commuters’ cars.

In the early morning of Aug. 29, a male student was reported to public safety for jumping on the hood of three vehicles parked on West Montgomery Street. Recklessly denting civilians’ cars is a criminal charge. Detective Butler has a suspect for this incident.

Every GCSU student and faculty acknowledges the GCSU Honor Code, which states, “(GCSU) students shall at all times refrain from, discourage, and as far as possible, prevent all attempts at lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, and vandalism.”

Parties responsible for breaking the Honor Code are brought in front of the Judicial Council and the Dean of Students.

“Students should be proactive with one another and set expectations for one another,” said Harshbarger.

One of the biggest threats resulting from these acts of vandalism is that the university will lose credibility with the local community.

“People tend to focus on problems, so this could be a negative effect on the community’s outlook at GCSU,” said Harshbarger. “Even though most of the downtown residents realize that most students are respectable people there is potential for one student to change all that.”

Justin Haight, the Student Government Association Vice President, says he will be disappointed if the vandalism proves to be done by a GCSU student.

“It’s unfortunate to see a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch as these acts not only deteriorate our beautiful community,” Haight said, “but it also further distances our students from the community – which is the exact opposite of what SGA is working towards.”

For the tree and shrubbery vandalism committed on Sept. 3, Public Safety is offering a $500 reward to those who can offer information helpful in the arrest of those responsible. If students know anything about the vandalism they can call the anonymous tip line at 478-445-5169.

Steeped in awards for service engagement, GCSU should be recognized as a school of responsible students, not one that destroys the surrounding neighborhoods.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Harshbarger said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 19 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry