Many Grand Junction High School students visit the neighboring Colorado Mesa University campus for classes, social lives, and restaurants.
However, according to GJHS principal Jory Sorensen, some students behave poorly while on the CMU campus. Sorensen specifically described students committing unsafe and potentially illegal acts while there, using the phrase “general mischief bordering on criminal” to describe poor GJHS student behavior while at CMU.
“I haven’t seen any instance of [students acting unsafely], and I haven’t really heard of any instance of it from people who have concurrent enrollment classes, so I feel like the issue may be with people who are going to lunch on campus,” said GJHS senior Sean Prestangen, who attends Engineering 101 at CMU as a concurrent enrollment class.
According to a Nov. 21 parent communication email written by Sorensen, the majority of GJHS students who visit CMU behave well. Despite this, Sorensen also wrote that all visiting students must keep the CMU expectations of safety.
Sorensen said that the email was written because of an incident in early September where GJHS students attempted to drive a CMU-owned golf cart on campus without the university’s permission.
“Please talk with your child and reinforce that they are accountable for their actions at all times, including while on the CMU campus,” wrote Sorensen, who clarified later in the email that GJHS students who behave unsafely while at CMU may no longer be allowed on campus or allowed to take CMU/CMU Tech classes.
According to the CMU Academic Affairs, Procedures, and Interpretive Guidance list, the university condemns actions such as violence, intimidation, abuse, and discrimination. CMU calls upon students, faculty, and staff to report these crimes to campus police and/or the Grand Junction Police Department. Anonymous reporting can be done by dialing the Crime Stoppers phone number at (970) 241-STOP or Safe2Tell.
