Two years ago, Lennon Wesley III received a heartbreaking email.
As a senator with the USC Undergraduate Student Government, the then-junior — as well as other members of USG — read a student’s personal account of a mental health crisis on campus. The USC Department of Public Safety was the primary responder during the incident. The student detailed being met by armed, uniformed safety officers, who carry firearms as part of their work equipment, and the psychological impact of that encounter.
As a senator with the USC Undergraduate Student Government, the then-junior — as well as other members of USG — read a student’s personal account of a mental health crisis on campus. The USC Department of Public Safety was the primary responder during the incident. The student detailed being met by armed, uniformed safety officers, who carry firearms as part of their work equipment, and the psychological impact of that encounter.
“Reading that story secondhand was really painful,” Wesley said. “From that point on, myself and my colleagues [at USG] kept in contact with that student, and it eventually reached the point where we couldn’t wait anymore to reach out to the university.”