Campus offers support following residence hall incidents
This week, an individual not affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but with a history of interactions with law enforcement, gained access to a downtown campus residence hall multiple times.
University Housing staff responded immediately and called the University of Wisconsin Police Department. In the early morning hours of Thursday, Sept. 29, UWPD responded and quickly apprehended the individual.
He was taken to Dane County Jail and recommended for numerous charges, including two counts of disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer, an additional count of disorderly conduct, eight counts of bail jumping, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of threats to a law enforcement officer.
On two occasions, the suspect made threatening and harmful statements aimed at individual students based on their race and ethnicity, which resulted in charges that included the hate crime enhancer.
All students and employees deserve to feel a sense of belonging on campus and deserve to feel as safe as possible. Hate and bigotry have no place on our campus. UW–Madison acknowledges the harm and trauma these incidents can perpetuate and will continue to offer resources and support.
University Housing has been in touch with affected residence hall community members and is taking steps to ensure and reinforce the safety of all residents. Additional resources and support are also being offered to affected students and staff.
UW–Madison continually strives to create an equitable, inclusive, and supportive learning and working environment. This also means working in partnership with multiple constituencies on and off campus to keep our community as safe as possible .
As we continue these efforts, we are also grateful to UWPD and University Housing for their responses to the situation.
We strongly encourage anyone who would benefit from support and community to contact one of the resources below:
- Dean of Students Office, 608-263-5700
- UHS Mental Health Services (24/7), 608-265-5600 (option 9)
- Employee Assistance Office, 608-263-2987
The university will continue to work to strengthen collective efforts to have a safe, inclusive and supportive environment for all.