UCA students had the rare privilege of being a part of a TV show centered around college students. No, it’s not about academics or student life or sporting events – it’s about exploiting students who decide to cut loose and have a little fun partying on the weekends. Thankfully though, the crew wrapped up filming over the weekend.
“Campus PD,” created by G4TV, a network geared toward young male audiences, is basically a mix between “Cops” and “Girls Gone Wild” that Conway Police Department agreed to join forces with. For the “Cops” portion, a camera crew follows around officers who go about their duties on the weekends, busting up parties and bringing down the “bad kids” all for the amusement of some twisted viewer.
According to their Web site g4tv.com, the program is supposed to show “A real-life account of these modern-day campus heroes.”
Sorry to burst the bubbles of the TV crew and Conway PD, but you are certainly not heroes in the eyes of UCA students.
Which brings us to the “Girls Gone Wild” portion. Four UCA students have publicly announced that they were harassed by members of the camera crew, ranging from heckling to a female being asked to take off her shirt. This was all done as the Conway PD smiled for the camera while busting up a party and pretending to be the “Badass cops” that the show strives to film.
For several cited reasons, the four students have decided to remain anonymous instead of reporting their complaints to the Conway PD. One of the reasons is young college students not wanting their parents to find out they were at a party. Realistically, a parent may not be thrilled, but being adult enough to report a harassment charge should be praised by parents, not condemned.
Another reason would be fear of not getting a job at UCA. A few honors college students were stopped along the street by the camera crew, who hoped the students were about to get in some trouble. However, the group was simply walking down the street and finally got away from the persistent cameramen. Because these students are applying to be Resident Assistants next semester, they didn’t want to rock the boat by reporting the incident. This is no doubt in part related to the black cape of fear that the UCA Housing Department has spread over future and current student housing employees. Not being allowed to talk to the press is already bad enough, but going so far as being afraid to report harassment because of potentially being turned down for a job is cruel. Whether the housing department meant to instill this fear into the minds of potential student employers or not, it’s clear that it’s affecting students and housing needs to change its attitude in several areas. But that’s for another editorial.
Those possible RA candidates should understand that students want leaders who are willing to stand up for themselves, and hiding this doesn’t give the qualities of an effective leader. If a student came to an RA and told them of harassment, most likely they would tell the student to report it. It’s no different in this scenario no matter if they were going to a party or not.
The final reason is embarrassment. People who have been harassed may feel a flood of emotions, including shame and guilt. Having one’s name splashed across a newspaper, admitting to being sexually harassed, isn’t something most people would take lightly. However, as SGA President-Elect Megan Thompson brilliantly pointed out, there is certainly a difference between releasing your name after something you’ve done that’s humiliating and being courageous enough to stand up for other students to prevent anything like this from happening again.
Also, refusing to come forward to the police or others with your name brings with it a bit of questioning. It is a natural reaction to believe if someone is not willing to say their name or report wrong doing to a higher authority, he or she may not be telling the truth. We are certainly not accusing the victims of lying, but it is a question that will remain in everyone’s mind until someone decides to do the mature thing and make a valid report to the police about the harassment.
Although, how do you go to the Conway PD and make a formal complaint about the misconduct of the camera crew when the officers have ultimately allowed the camera crew to get away with this shameful behavior? It’s a scary situation for students to be in. However, students can file their reports with the UCA Police Department, where the officers seem to actually care about the well-being of students.
UCAPD Lt. Rhonda Swindle said the department was approached by G4 persistently to do the show, but turned the offer down.
Swindle said: “We did not want to promote that type of commercial entertainment for the university. We did not feel like it would be in the best interest of the university community or the Police Department.”
Mayor Tab Townsell, who’s spoken to the Student Government Association since the harassment allegations, said the city is not getting any compensation from the TV show. He also said the show was brought here to shine a positive light on Conway PD.
“They asked us and our only thought unfortunately was to showcase our [police]department’s professionalism,” Townsell said. He also added, “If I had the chance to do it again, I wouldn’t have signed the agreement. I’d rather not have them here.” We agree with Townsell. It’s unfortunate that this has happened in the first place, but at least their done filming.
How anyone could imagine this show could make UCA or Conway look good is inconceivable. After so much bad publicity in the last couple years from UCA, you’d think everyone would want to jump on the bandwagon to promote positivity rather than smearing our students’ actions through the mud.
Even though the camera crew is gone, students now understand that the armor of the law isn’t always there to protect us. But, if ever a situation like this rises again, we still need to keep our sword handy – that sword is our rights. No one has the authority to come into your home without your permission. If you’re ever taped, no one has a right to use that footage unless you sign a waiver. The best thing students can do is follow the right that everyone is familiar with: remain silent. If an officer asks for your name, give it to him or her, but anything else is your right to keep to yourself. Don’t jeopardize your rights because an officer decides to intimidate you, which they may do to get you to speak.
We hope the four students, and any other students who feel they have been harassed, will decide to report the incident and be a courageous example to the student body. If this happens, they will be considered the real heroes.