This evening, the Morgan State football team is scheduled to face off against the North Carolina Central Eagles at 7:30p.m. in Hughes Stadium — the first large-scale, on-campus event in weeks.
ESPNU will televise the game with possibly thousands of spectators in attendance. The game will also be the first major event to take place on Morgan’s campus since the mass shooting on Oct. 3, which led to canceling or postponing homecoming events.
Dell Jackson, a Morgan spokesman, said the sizable presence of law enforcement officials and security personnel, the use of the clear bag guidelines and metal detectors as well as actively monitoring Morgan’s security camera network will further ensure the safety of everyone who attends tonight’s game.
“We are going to have a full complement and deployment of sworn officers, security officers and a number of contracted allied security personnel on campus,” said Jackson, director of public relations and strategic communications.
“In addition to that, the MSU community can look forward to seeing a very, very visible and high presence of security in and around the university.”
According to Jackson, Morgan’s police officers, Baltimore police officers and contracted security personnel will ensure people’s safety while on campus and in much of the immediate community — which will include routes to Morgan View, Marble Hall and O’Connell Hall — before, during and after the football game.
Security and law enforcement personnel will also enforce Morgan’s clear bag guidelines, which went into effect Sept. 23
The shooting exposed many immediate concerns in campus safety – which Morgan President David Wilson addressed in a town hall meeting on Oct. 10.
Regardless, some students said they do not feel not feel comfortable going to events on campus even though police have arrested one of the shooting’s suspects.
“Morgan still needs a little more time before they can host a big event like a football game because some people might still be scared from the last incident and Morgan might need to let the situation die down more,” said Kyle Darmanie, a junior in electrical engineering.
Yasha Barnhart, a sophomore computer science major, said that some students still feel uncomfortable and others don’t seem to take it seriously enough.
“Security-wise, no because in the past they have not proven themselves to be fit to do so and this was also proven a couple of weeks ago with the shooting,” said Barnhart.
Over the past several years, Morgan’s campus and the surrounding area have experienced multiple incidents that challenged a sense of safety and security.
Julian Fruh was shot and killed in August 2022 outside of Marble Hall Gardens, a leasing complex that houses many of Morgan’s returning students; shootings have occurred during homecoming in 2021, 2022, and 2023; and multiple robberies occurred on or near Morgan’s campus in May 2023.
Olayinka Fakiye, a junior screenwriting and animation major, said Morgan wasn’t ready for a large-scale event and cited its open campus and accessibility to non-students as a major concern.
“People are allowed to, you know, come in and go however they please,” said Fakiye. “I don’t think it would be safe for the students to … have a big event like that, where random people can just show up for it.”
However, Deanna Neal, a senior majoring in interdisciplinary social equity and urbansim, said she believes that Morgan has bounced back.
“Morgan is absolutely ready for big events and I think that we are Morgan strong and things are back to normal,” said Neal.
“We most want our community to understand that the university is fully committed to providing not just memorable fun, exciting experiences, a lively academic setting but also ones that are safe,” said Jackson.
“We’re just looking forward to a great, great turn out tonight – a wonderful opportunity for our Morgan community to come together in a, hopefully, winning contest in support of our MSU Bears football program.”
Spokesman managing editor Lillian Stephens contributed to this article.
