Screening Intelligence That Matters
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Why we need mandatory background screening on college campuses.
Published by Coeus Global in Education • 2/16/2015
Once again a tragedy at one of our nation’s universities has highlighted the need to conduct mandatory background screenings on college and university students.
By having all students purchase a criminal background check and making the results available to the university, we could enhance the safety of the on campus college experience.
A small fee could be added to the cost of enrollment each year, typically less than a quarter of the price of the average college textbook that would cover the required criminal background check.
Our simple program allows students to enter their data on our secure website, pay for the search using their credit or debit card (or have all screenings paid for by the university if they are adding a fee to the enrollment costs) and have the results posted in a secure portal that only the authorized director at their school could access.
Contact us to learn how simple the process is, how quickly a school can become enrolled in our program, and how little the cost actually is to enhance the safety of the college experience.
Enhance campus safety, protect the valuable reputation of your school and do the right thing!
The following article illustrates how a simple criminal background check could have uncovered the previous criminal history and possibly averted this tragedy.
By Erik Brady, USA TODAY
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — University of Virginia officials spent an hour answering news media questions about the death of Yeardley Love before spending an emotional hour with students at a Wednesday night candlelight vigil honoring her.
Love, which played on the women's lacrosse team, was found dead early Monday. George Huguely, who played on the men's team, is charged with first-degree murder.
School President John T. Casteen III began the news conference by recalling the description of her beaten body in court documents as "a constant image in our heads. ... She was, and is, our first responsibility, our student."
Many questions concerned how well Virginia had fulfilled that responsibility. Dean of students Allen Groves said the school would take a hard look at that in coming weeks, after allowing the community an opportunity to grieve.
Casteen said the school's administrators and athletic officials did not know that Huguely had been arrested for resisting arrest and public intoxication in Lexington, Va., about 70 miles away, in 2008. Huguely, according to the arresting officer, cursed and made threats and had to be subdued with a stun gun.
Casteen said the law did not require police departments to inform schools about such arrests, though he said some departments do as a courtesy. He said Virginia students are required to self-report such arrests. Huguely didn't.
Casteen and Groves said they were unaware of any previous altercation between Huguely and Love, who had a relationship at one time.
"There was nothing prior to the incident he's incarcerated for that we knew of," Groves said. The officials said they received no notice from Love or her family about harassment or threats.
At the emotional candlelight vigil, held before an overflow crowd at a 1,500-seat amphitheater on campus, Love's former teammates cried and comforted each other.
"Tuck away in your soul the knowledge that neither Yeardley Love nor any woman attacked ever deserved it," Casteen told the crowd.
Casteen said he hoped Love's death would "inspire an anger and a sense of outrage" that would lead students to tell school authorities any time they suspect incidents of domestic violence.
At the earlier news conference, Casteen said Love will graduate with her class posthumously on May 23. He also said the case brings up troubling questions about the use of alcohol on campus.
"Quite frankly, this kind of killing is so rare that there are few protocols in higher education to deal with it," he said.
Casteen, who will retire after 20 years as president of his alma mater, and other school officials said all students are counseled about sexual assault and healthy relationships and that athletes get extra training.
Dean of Students Allen Groves said this is not the time to chastise friends or teammates of Huguely and Love who might have known about trouble between the pair in the past and did not mention it to coaches or authorities.
"Our young people are dealing with a lot of grief, and rightly or wrongly, I don't know if this is the right time to be critical of what they did or did not bring forward," he said. "We have young people struggling with what they might have known, what they might have seen."
He said students will be reminded that the school has avenues open for such disclosure.
"I think this case will cause the entire university to (determine) how we can use those resources," he said. "We'll be telling our young people going forward that if you saw something like this, here's where you can go."
At the same news conference, athletics director Craig Littlepage said the lacrosse teams would continue their seasons in the NCAA tournaments with the blessing of the Love family. Julie Myers, Love's coach, told Littlepage that "Yeardley would have been p.o.-ed" if her team did not play on.
Fields for the respective NCAA tournaments will be announced Sunday.
Littlepage also said Virginia's spring sports teams will be offered an opportunity to wear a patch with Love's initials or perhaps her No. 1.
Love's funeral is Saturday in Baltimore, where she attended Notre Dame Prep.
The Washington Post reported that eight current members on the men's team's 41-player roster have been charged with some kind of alcohol-related offense during their careers, including underage possession and driving while intoxicated. This includes Huguely's 2008 arrest in Lexington, Va., for resisting arrest and public intoxication. The Post said six of the players were found guilty or pled guilty.
"I am assured that those incidents that have been brought into the pipeline were handled in a manner consistent with what our longstanding policies have been," Littlepage said.
In court documents filed earlier Wednesday, police said they took a crimson-stained shirt, a letter to Love, two computers and other items from Huguely's apartment hours after Love's body was discovered, according to the Charlottesville Daily Progress. The paper said the records were later sealed.
By having all students purchase a criminal background check and making the results available to the university, we could enhance the safety of the on campus college experience.
A small fee could be added to the cost of enrollment each year, typically less than a quarter of the price of the average college textbook that would cover the required criminal background check.
Our simple program allows students to enter their data on our secure website, pay for the search using their credit or debit card (or have all screenings paid for by the university if they are adding a fee to the enrollment costs) and have the results posted in a secure portal that only the authorized director at their school could access.
Contact us to learn how simple the process is, how quickly a school can become enrolled in our program, and how little the cost actually is to enhance the safety of the college experience.
Enhance campus safety, protect the valuable reputation of your school and do the right thing!
The following article illustrates how a simple criminal background check could have uncovered the previous criminal history and possibly averted this tragedy.
By Erik Brady, USA TODAY
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — University of Virginia officials spent an hour answering news media questions about the death of Yeardley Love before spending an emotional hour with students at a Wednesday night candlelight vigil honoring her.
Love, which played on the women's lacrosse team, was found dead early Monday. George Huguely, who played on the men's team, is charged with first-degree murder.
School President John T. Casteen III began the news conference by recalling the description of her beaten body in court documents as "a constant image in our heads. ... She was, and is, our first responsibility, our student."
Many questions concerned how well Virginia had fulfilled that responsibility. Dean of students Allen Groves said the school would take a hard look at that in coming weeks, after allowing the community an opportunity to grieve.
Casteen said the school's administrators and athletic officials did not know that Huguely had been arrested for resisting arrest and public intoxication in Lexington, Va., about 70 miles away, in 2008. Huguely, according to the arresting officer, cursed and made threats and had to be subdued with a stun gun.
Casteen said the law did not require police departments to inform schools about such arrests, though he said some departments do as a courtesy. He said Virginia students are required to self-report such arrests. Huguely didn't.
Casteen and Groves said they were unaware of any previous altercation between Huguely and Love, who had a relationship at one time.
"There was nothing prior to the incident he's incarcerated for that we knew of," Groves said. The officials said they received no notice from Love or her family about harassment or threats.
At the emotional candlelight vigil, held before an overflow crowd at a 1,500-seat amphitheater on campus, Love's former teammates cried and comforted each other.
"Tuck away in your soul the knowledge that neither Yeardley Love nor any woman attacked ever deserved it," Casteen told the crowd.
Casteen said he hoped Love's death would "inspire an anger and a sense of outrage" that would lead students to tell school authorities any time they suspect incidents of domestic violence.
At the earlier news conference, Casteen said Love will graduate with her class posthumously on May 23. He also said the case brings up troubling questions about the use of alcohol on campus.
"Quite frankly, this kind of killing is so rare that there are few protocols in higher education to deal with it," he said.
Casteen, who will retire after 20 years as president of his alma mater, and other school officials said all students are counseled about sexual assault and healthy relationships and that athletes get extra training.
Dean of Students Allen Groves said this is not the time to chastise friends or teammates of Huguely and Love who might have known about trouble between the pair in the past and did not mention it to coaches or authorities.
"Our young people are dealing with a lot of grief, and rightly or wrongly, I don't know if this is the right time to be critical of what they did or did not bring forward," he said. "We have young people struggling with what they might have known, what they might have seen."
He said students will be reminded that the school has avenues open for such disclosure.
"I think this case will cause the entire university to (determine) how we can use those resources," he said. "We'll be telling our young people going forward that if you saw something like this, here's where you can go."
At the same news conference, athletics director Craig Littlepage said the lacrosse teams would continue their seasons in the NCAA tournaments with the blessing of the Love family. Julie Myers, Love's coach, told Littlepage that "Yeardley would have been p.o.-ed" if her team did not play on.
Fields for the respective NCAA tournaments will be announced Sunday.
Littlepage also said Virginia's spring sports teams will be offered an opportunity to wear a patch with Love's initials or perhaps her No. 1.
Love's funeral is Saturday in Baltimore, where she attended Notre Dame Prep.
The Washington Post reported that eight current members on the men's team's 41-player roster have been charged with some kind of alcohol-related offense during their careers, including underage possession and driving while intoxicated. This includes Huguely's 2008 arrest in Lexington, Va., for resisting arrest and public intoxication. The Post said six of the players were found guilty or pled guilty.
"I am assured that those incidents that have been brought into the pipeline were handled in a manner consistent with what our longstanding policies have been," Littlepage said.
In court documents filed earlier Wednesday, police said they took a crimson-stained shirt, a letter to Love, two computers and other items from Huguely's apartment hours after Love's body was discovered, according to the Charlottesville Daily Progress. The paper said the records were later sealed.