UWI Mona Guild president under fire for tone-deaf response to student safety concerns
/ Our Today
administrator
President of the UWI Mona Guild Perry Cummings Jnr is facing mounting criticism for a video students lambasted as ‘dismissive’ and ‘tone-deaf’ in light of a deteriorating security situation on campus.
In a now-deleted video on Tuesday night (February 12) responding to concerns raised by female students about the safety of the ‘Rex spine’, a heavily trafficked promenade adjacent to Rex Nettleford Hall—Cummings claimed he saw “nothing” to warrant the concerns.
Students say they feel unsafe walking about the campus at night amid an increase in alleged assaults and robberies.
“Alright, so ladies and gentlemen, I’m here with CEAC [chairman] Emelius Watson. We saw a message about men lay-waiting women on the rex spine. We made our way here quickly as possible just to confirm if this was true—probably it wouldn’t be encouraged that anybody else try this but we had to see for ourselves,” the video began.
The de facto student representative for the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Mona campus spoke matter-of-factly that he saw ‘no one’ and claimed they were there to stop “misinformation”.
“So while we encourage persons to be safe we also caution against false information and persons who will mischievously spread information to drive fear in our students,” added the guild president.
Offering advice, Cummings suggested that students “walk in groups when you traverse Rex spine”.
“We know that residents live on this side of the campus. Please walk in groups but also verify information, and ensure that persons are sure on how true the information is because we don’t want persons living in constant fear (sic). Alight?” mused Cummings.
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Cummings’s video triggered an immediate backlash from students who blasted his apparent nonchalance to the plight of female campus residents.
Among the criticisms, students found the video in bad taste and asked why he felt it necessary to minimise the state of uneasiness being experienced by Rex Hall residents.
The guild president, in his official capacity, then led an official statement on Wednesday lamenting the woeful security inadequacies facing students.
Emerging from what he called a “fruitful” discussion with campus authorities, Cummings said the guild was given several assurances that immediate changes would be implemented to address the matter.
“Greetings Pelicans, Perry Cummings here…we just left an important meeting with senior members of [UWI Mona] administration regarding campus security. We are aware of your concerns and what we’d like to see in terms of advocacy for same,” he explained.
“And I must say it was a fruitful conversation. We’re expecting changes not very long from now,” noted Cummings.
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Seemingly incensed by the insincere about-face, students slammed the video by the UWI Mona Guild on Instagram—claiming his words didn’t “match the energy” from his previous video.
“This nuh match di energy inna the video weh Perry mek last night, but ok,” wrote user @_lati.fah_.
“You’ve been aware of the situation for a couple weeks now, and you guys only reached out to the principal this morning? That’s rather interesting!” added user @sanjae_official.
“LOOL was this before or after the video they made mocking people’s concerns? Did they later go back and find someone lay waiting them??” asked user @capri.camm.
Cummings, a final-year student enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences, boards at Chancellor Hall. He also moonlights as a reggae gospel artiste under the moniker ‘Perry in Christ’.
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