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Sunday, July 13, 2025

SGA holds Town Hall on campus safety

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Longwood University Police Department Chief of Police Col. Robert Beach says “My goal is to encourage you to trust us and obviously that was destroyed and so I’m sorry."

About 200 people gathered in Blackwell Ballroom on Feb. 13 to discuss campus safety in light of recent events at a Student Government Association (SGA) Town Hall, according to Josh Darst, SGA president. Over the course of the Town Hall, about 50 students asked questions in regard to transparency with communication, security cameras, security funding, campus alerts and community trust.

The panel consisted of Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Tim Pierson, Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) Chief of Police Col. Robert Beach, Assistant Vice President of Communications Matt McWilliams and Associate Dean of Conduct and Integrity Jen Fraley, with Darst moderating.

“I want you to know we're going to do everything we can to listen and learn and take things from here tonight and (we're) trying to do better,” Pierson said.

After introductory remarks by Darst and panelist introductions, attendees formed lines to ask questions. Campus safety and related issues were the focus of the night, but an incident that occurred in Longwood Village was the main topic of the event.

On Jan. 27, an armed man who was later identified as Malcolm Deon Leviege was reported at Longwood Village by an off-duty desk aide. LUPD arrived at the scene within four minutes but Leviege was gone, according to Beach. Students were notified of a “person of interest” in the area over 24 hours later, in an email from McWilliams.

"The failure and what we have come here to tell you that we understand was the (issue) here was (that) a more timely set of information of an event that occurred but was controlled and taken care of and that information could have been drafted and given to you in a way that, that would have maybe intercepted some of the fear and the speculation that that started to boil up over the next 48 hours,” Beach said.

Beach emphasized that "there was no imminent threat to campus safety" since Leviege had already fled the Longwood Village by the time LUPD arrived and said that is the reason no alert went out to students.

Many students expressed concern and dissatisfaction that students were not alerted at the time of the incident. One resident of and staff member at Longwood Village, Christopher R. Wells, junior business administration major, said that he was discouraged from telling other students about the incident.

“I was concerned after this happened because I had prior knowledge to it and going on and I want to know why people in the village including myself (have) been encouraged to keep quiet rather than come out,” said Wells.

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Christopher Wells, a resident and staff member at the Longwood Village, expressed concern that residents of the village were “encouraged to keep quiet rather than come out.”

When asked who told him to refrain from spreading information about the incident, Wells said it was Beach.

“All the information that you had put it in the paragraph that you whatever that was and all the bad information,” Beach said.

Wells said that he had made an error, but it was in reference to a separate incident in Cumberland County. Wells and Beach referenced a prior conversation but were asked to “keep the conversation detail based” by Darst and the Town Hall continued with the next student asking questions.

Wells later clarified to The Rotunda that he had sent an email and made errors regarding a police shooting in Cumberland, but that his information about the incident on Jan. 27 in the village had been “100 percent factual information”.

According to Wells, he was discouraged from talking about the Jan. 27 incident on social media or in person.

“My main objective was trying to get the people I know to know they aren’t in danger anymore after the village incident,” Wells said. “(Beach) also told me how I shouldn’t be sending things like that because he had received phone calls from concerned parents.”

Regarding the conversation at the town hall, Wells said he “felt attacked for speaking out again, and that my concerns and the concerns of students were not met with intent to rectify current situations.”

During the Town Hall, other students objected to the wording of the email and how it did not mention the person of interest had a gun.

“A lot of people in (the Longwood) Village may not have known about the gun until after he left,” Chris Alexander, a business sophomore said.

Other students agreed with Alexander, saying Leviege being armed should have been included in the email.

McWilliams said, “Police determined that there wasn't an ongoing imminent threat to safety and that's why it didn't trigger the campus alert.”

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Assistant Vice President of Communications Matt McWilliams acknowledged the students’ concerns at the end of the night, saying “we need to remain vigilant in finding ways to improve communication and giving students what they need to feel secure."

Another student concern was a rumor saying Leviege had been released. Beach confirmed Leviege has been released on bond and students asked follow-up questions regarding the preventative measures that will be taken to make sure Leviege does not return to campus.

Jalyn Jones, an SGA senator, asked if Leviege had a previous altercation in the area prior to the recent incident. Beach said that Leviege had been involved in domestic incidents before with someone in the community back in November.

Many students voiced a need for an increased security camera presence and an increased number of blue light phones around campus, particularly at the Longwood Village.

Pierson, McWilliams and Beach all agreed with students that more cameras would be an improvement in security. Per Beach, funding for security cameras is lacking and until seven years ago there were barely any cameras on Longwood’s campus.

Community trust was another topic of discussion.

“I want to create a confidence in you that you can trust the decisions that we made at the police department level and the efforts that we do to protect you,” Beach said.

Many students expressed difficulty trusting the police and Longwood to communicate effectively.

“It hasn’t worked and I'm getting tired of hearing the same things over and over again. Overall, I just want to see change. I don't want to hear what you want to change. I want to see change,” said Cecil Hayes, a senior.

Both Pierson and McWilliams agreed communication needs to improve as a result of the Town Hall.

“I think that's the big takeaway is that they said we need to remain vigilant in finding ways to improve communication and giving students what they need to feel secure,” said McWilliams.

Longwood University Police Department Chief of Police Col. Robert Beach says “My goal is to encourage you to trust us and obviously that was destroyed and so I’m sorry."

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