Fizzy Business - Regis College

NEWS UPDATE
Response Swift in the Wake
of Murder on Campus
BY M.J. DOHERTY ’67, PH.D.
Recently, the Regis College community was
seriously shaken.
Early on the morning of September 24, two
young men were stabbed in the Angela Hall parking
lot, and one of them, 18-year-old Elhadji Malick
Ndiaye of Waltham, the only son of immigrants from
Senegal, was killed. This was completely heartbreaking
for his family, and, in a different way, for Regis.
The men who were stabbed were not Regis students.Verbal
conflict developed in the foyer of Angela
Hall in a chance meeting between them and a group
of student guests leaving campus and spilled out
into the parking lot.
On September 30, Middlesex County District
Attorney Gerard Leone announced the arrest of
Robenson Daniel, 20, of Boston, and charged him
with murder, assault and battery with a dangerous
weapon (two counts), assault with a dangerous
weapon, and armed assault with the intent to murder.
Daniel is a Wheelock College student.
The police investigation is continuing, and the
College is cooperating with authorities.
A murder on our campus flew in the face of the
reality that Regis is a peaceful community that has
zero tolerance for violence and for behaviors placing
the community at risk. Any students who violated
the College’s policies have also been the subject of
Regis College action, up to and including immediate
and indefinite suspension and removal from campus.
In compliance with federal regulations, the College
is not releasing names.
Heeding advice of experts in trauma response
and crisis communication, the college has returned
to normalcy, but with added security. We resumed
classes and went forward with Founders’ Day
ceremonies, Cap and Gown, the Graduate Program
Reception, and Homecoming, and the campus is
recovering its spirit.
Investigators did not judge that there was any
additional danger from the perpetrator, but to
assuage fears, every residence hall has police presence
24/7 during this crisis, and daytime foot patrols
have been doubled. A police officer is on duty 24/7 in
Angela Hall where the Children’s Center is located.
We also monitor Walters Hall where the Academy
Kindergarten is located.
Regis received praise from investigators for our
routine security measures, which include a high-end
lighting system on building entrances and parking
lots; video surveillance security cameras in entryways
and on parking lots; locked residence halls
(24/7) accessible only to those with card access; a
Campus Police escort for any member of the campus
community at night. These security measures helped
with the investigations.
With grief counselors available and campus security
stepped-up, President England put out a call to
action to students on September 27: “I am asking all
of you to learn from this experience, summoning all
of you to a new realization of your responsibility as
members of this community—a new care regarding
your social interactions.”
For many decades Regis has reached out to immigrant
and first generation students. We have cultivated
a remarkable, global diversity on campus. This
is a tremendous achievement already, and still a
worthwhile work-in-progress. We trust that all who
belong to Regis will continue to carry this work to its
goal, social justice for all, “before the silver cord is
snapped or the golden bowl is broken…and the spirit
returns to God who made it,” as Ecclesiastes says.
Please send comments or Letters to the Editor to
mj.doherty@regiscollege.edu
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