VIRGINIA, USA — The First Amendment and safety policies across Virginia campuses are now under a spotlight from state lawmakers, as top legislators create new committees following protests that have broken out at colleges across the state.
In just one month, dozens of student protestors have been arrested from the state's flagship schools, including Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Mary Washington and the University of Virginia.
In some cases, those subsequent police responses have raised alarms for policymakers.
Now, over the next several months top lawmakers in both the House of Delegates and State Senate will investigate how to keep students and free speech safe.
In a letter penned by Portsmouth Delegate and House Speaker, Don Scott has pooled 12 lawmakers together to create the committee on “Maintaining Campus Safety and First Amendment Expression.” Local Delegates Bonita Anthony (D) and Amanda Batten (R) are among the selected committee members.
"We should identify areas where we can improve state policies in order to mitigate the incidents of unrest and arrest that we have witnessed this spring," he writes.
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) told 13News Now Tuesday that she considers it a "fact-finding" mission.
"[Looking at] responses that are concerning, large police presence on campus, actions taken to stop student protests. We also see some degree of violence and student arrests. All of these are concerning steps," she said.
Sen. Hashmi also mentioned she received reports that university leadership changed campus policies on the days of the protests themselves, which requires explanation.
"One of the concerning messages from a couple institutions from student voices is that policies were changed without going through the proper process. Policies were changed the day of the protest so if that’s the case, we need to address that," she said.
Hampton State Sen. Mamie Locke will serve on the senate committee side, per Sen. Hashmi.
In Del. Scott's letter, he notes that the work will be completed by December 1 with a final report published by December 15 in time for the next lawmaking session.