Student ‘disagreement’ prompts security for UI law school

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa has put in place new security measures at its Boyd Law Building during fall finals. It comes in response to a 'disagreement involving a student at the College of Law.”

Officials have not disclosed details about last week's incident, but UI spokeswoman Anne Bassett said it ended quickly. UI Department of Public Safety officers were called to 'monitor the situation.”

Gordon Tribbey, assistant dean for finance and administration, reported security changes at the law building in a message to law students.

'To maintain a quiet and secure campus during exams,” Tribbey wrote, law students will have access via their UI ID cards to Boyd Law Building through locked north and west entrances between 6 a.m. and midnight.

The main entrance on the south will remain unlocked during business hours. Law student will have no access to the building from midnight to 6 a.m., according to the message.

During the two-week exam period, a 'student patrol officer” will be stationed in the lobby from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Bassett said the new security measures are in direct response to the student disagreement, which she didn't classify as a 'threat.”

Third-year UI law student Ben Gillig, 29, said he's noticed the police presence and read the security email but hasn't heard much additional chatter about the instigating issue.

'There were rumors that a student was unhappy, but that's all I heard,” he said. 'We are all pretty well in the zone - so I haven't heard a lot of conversation about it.”

Had the incident occurred earlier in the semester, Gillig said, more students might have raised the issue or investigated safety concerns.

'But there isn't really chatter about it because no one's really talking,” he said.

And, Gillig said, despite all the time he spends in the building - where he has an office - he feels safe.

'I'm grateful they seem to be rather proactive about it,” he said.

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