Student Council discussed the recently installed fence around the railroad tracks on Chancellor Street and behind the Corner at its Tuesday meeting in Newcomb Theater.
Safety and Wellness Committee Chair Rachel Murphy, a third-year College student, said crossing the railroad tracks constitutes trespassing on private property, which can be a liability problem for the railroad company.
“The reason why this fence exists is because its illegal to walk over the railroad tracks,” she said. “[The police] have been known to ticket people who are crossing the railroads.”
She said the way it is built is safer for students who may be intoxicated and try to climb the fence.
“If you’re going to have a fence it should be built this way,” she said.
Chair of Internal Affairs Klaus Dollhopf, a fifth-year College student, said Council should try to form a culture of going around the tracks by walking down the Corner.
Other council members said this issue served as an example of the need for student advocacy in Charlottesville politics — saying few students were even aware the issue was being discussed until after a decision was made.
At the meeting, Council also participated in a group planning activity facilitated by OpenGrounds, a University discussion initiative.
Council members broke into groups for an exercise in brainstorming and plan developing. Topics included AccessUVa, sexual misconduct, CIO inclusivity and voter engagement.
Third-year Commerce student Faith Lyons, Council's director of University relations, said her group discussed the culture surrounding students about sexual misconduct.
“You can have all the resources in the world, but if you don’t have a culture that supports them then there’s not going to be much of a change,” Lyons said.
Vice President for Organizations Kyle West, a third-year Commerce student, said his group discussed the discrepancies between larger and smaller CIOs. While a CIO may do well under the leadership of one student, he said, once leadership changes within the organization, it can lose its progress and driving force.
“There’s a definite disconnect between how some are very productive from year to year,” he said. “[We’re] promoting CIOs to look for someone, an advisor, to maintain that they’re on target.”
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