Last Thursday, Georgetown students, staff and faculty received an email from President John J. DeGioia announcing the University’s new Protection of Minors policy. The goal of the policy is to “protect those under 18 years of age who participate in programs and activities associated with the University.”

Georgetown hosts a wide range of programs that bring minors to campus, from academic programs for high schoolers to summer camps. Implementation of the policy will begin with training sessions for any program directors who engage with minors on campus.

In a press conference call earlier today, Vice President for Public Affairs and Senior Advisor to the President Erik Smulson said that Department of Public Safety officers are already in the process of additional training sessions for protection of minors.

The policy includes requirements for criminals background checks, trainings, and how to report any suspected abuse. The guidelines outlined apply to any students, staff, faculty, volunteers, and non-university organizations that have programs on campus involving minors. Effective immediately, any program that works with minors must “register with the Office of Compliance and Ethics and begin training staff involved in their program.”

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Jay Gruber, Assistant Director of Public Safety and Assistant Chief of Police at the University of Maryland, will assume his position as Georgetown’s next Department of Public Safety Chief of Police, effective July 30, 2012. Erik Smulson, Vice President for Public Affairs, announced the new Chief of Police in an email earlier today.

The news comes about two weeks after an announcement from Smulson that DPS Chief Rocco DelMonaco would resign by the end of June.

Gruber is also a University of Maryland graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and a master’s in applied management. Alongside his extensive background experience in the field of criminal justice, he completed a graduate certificate in Homeland Security Management. He is also an FBI Police Executive Fellow.

“Jay understands the unique dynamics facing university campuses, and I am confident that he will be an excellent leader for the Department of Public Safety and a contributing member of the Georgetown community,” Smulson said in the email. As of now, there’s no promise that we’ll get to see a continuation of Rocky’s Reports.

Photo from Educause

Plan A Hoyas, the controversial group that is lobbying Georgetown University to provide contraception and sexual education to students and allow more dialogue about related topics, held a rally for their cause today in Red Square where members of their group told stories of how they had been affected by Georgetown’s restrictive policies.

Afterward, they marched to President John DeGioia’s office to deliver to him a petition with dozens of signatures from students who supported their cause, a tape recorder on which students had recorded their stories of being frustrated by University policies, including the story of a student who had called into the University Hospital after being raped, and a response to the February 24 letter they received from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson in response to their demands, or, “a response to his non-response.”

After being stopped by University employees on their way to the office, they gave the material to his Chief of Staff Erik Smulson in the foyer of the second floor of Healy Hall.

About two dozen students led the rally in Red Square, with some holding signs, like “Let’s make the 1st Amendment a Legacy.” A student in a dress shirt and tie who wore the moniker “Georgetown” on a piece of paper went around the half-circle of protesters putting tape over their mouths as what one rally leader, Julia Shindel (COL ’10), called “pretty clear symbolism.”

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