A University-supported bill in the General Assembly would prevent campus threat assessment teams from releasing their records and documents under the terms of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Since the Virginia Tech massacre, the commonwealth has required all public colleges and universities to form campus threat assessment teams - which include law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, student affairs and residence staff - to investigate students who may pose threats to themselves or others around them.
Del. Rob Bell, R-Albermarle County - a College and Law School alumnus - and State Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, have sponsored the bill.
The bill's overarching goal is to "preserve the confidentiality" of threat assessment teams and their findings, Edwards said.
Both the University and the bill's sponsors believe that the teams need added protection because they are key in preventing violent incidents, Bell said.
"We need a mechanism where we sit down every so often ... talk about [possible threats] and see if we think [they are] a real problem," he said.
Susan Davis, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, said the University's threat assessment team investigates "individuals whose behavior may present a threat and [intervenes] when appropriate."
Some groups, however, are worried that the bill could result in a lack of transparency. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said she is concerned that the threat assessment teams are not always as open as they should be and worries that the bill would exacerbate this.
"This is why there needs to be some sort of mechanism for the records to be released, in the case of some sort of violent or destructive event," Rhyne said. "We can then go back and look at what signs there were and who knew what - like what they are doing now with the Christmas day bombing ... looking back to see who might have known what information was properly shared."
Overall, Rhyne said she is worried that the public will not have access to necessary information about events to help prevent future ones.
Davis, however, said important information will be released to the public on a need-to-know basis in the aftermath of very serious incidents.
"When dealing with an incident of that magnitude, there are many ways for the information to come out, such as a governor's panel that was used during the Virginia Tech tragedy," she said.
Overall, Davis said perhaps the most important concern is not just to maintain a confidential investigation but also to protect the privacy of the individual under investigation.
"More often than not, they are more threats to themselves than to others," she said.
-Katherine Raichlen and Emily Poe contributed to this article.
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