Schovanec Talks Fall Semester Enrollment and Guns Up Controversy
Tuesday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, The President of Texas Tech University Dr. Lawrence Schovanec joined Dave and Matt to talk about the Tech basketball team playing in the Bahamas, the fall semester starting soon at Tech, his strong support of Coach Matt Wells, the enrollment numbers, the past and present "Guns Up" controversies, the military and veterans office, and more.
Dr. Schovanec talked about Texas Tech gearing up for the fall semester, and the new-student move in that occured on Saturday and Sunday. He spoke on the football team and parents helping students get moved in, saying, "You think about how much is expected of all the student athletes. All the time they put in, and yet they do things like that. I think that's wonderful. And there's a lot of different emotions at move in. Parents are there with their kids. It's a really neat experience, and at the same time, I think it impresses upon us what a solemn responsibility we have when we take those new students into our care."
The Tech President also addressed a texter who was asking if Tech would stand against a movement to try and do away with Texas Tech's "Guns Up" slogan. Schovanec said that they would, then elaborated on the connection that some have made between the gun based slogan and many in America's stance towards guns, saying,
These tragedies are a different issue, and people should know that just recently, in light of what's happened, we've added to our police force, we've installed additional cameras around campus, especially where there will be large crowds. This summer our police department cooperated with other law enforcement agencies and live shooter training. That is one matter that we take terribly seriously. On the other hand, the "Guns Up" slogan is not a statement about guns. It's not an endorsement of firearms. It's a gesture that is part of the Tech Culture. It represents our spirit and I see this as totally separate from these other, more serious issues that come up.
Watch the full interview with Dr. Lawrence Schovanec in the video above.