War Memorial Stadium
It’s time to celebrate as the UW football team has reeled in its first win of the season against Weber State. It was a win that came despite chilly, autumn-like weather and in the last minute of the game.
But it is also a time to remember two individuals whose lives recently became forever linked with War Memorial Stadium: David Schmitt and Erik Andrews.
For those who don’t know Schmitt’s and Andrews’ fate, both found an end to their lives at the stadium because of easy access to the premises. After the incidences, there was talk of increased security but how much has been done since the first person lost his life in May?
Schmitt was a 22-year-old student at UW, who at the end of the spring 2011 semester made the wrong daring decision to climb War Memorial Stadium before graduating. He was one of UW’s swimming and diving team captains and was out for one last night of fun.
Edwards on the other hand had no obvious connection to campus, he was not a student, nor part of staff or faculty. In late July, the 43-year-old Laramie man simply climbed the security fence, much like Schmitt had done, and apparently found a spot where he would end his life.
One fatality was a mistake, while the other seems to have been a premeditated action. What is of concern is the ease with which both accessed the stadium at night hours and the lack of patrols there seem to have been. After the first incident, UW officials met and there was talk of increased security.
“There may be something we could do, but for now the stadium has been there for 60 years or so and [we] never had an incident,” UW spokesperson Jim Kearns said in an article by the Casper Star Tribune in May.
A couple months later, Edwards was found dead on an asphalt pathway. After the latter incident, UW officials said they were going to indefinitely restrict access to the stadium to authorized personnel and increase security checks around the stadium, according to a press release.
It is now September, and it is important to ask the question of what actually has changed at War Memorial Stadium. ASUW student body president Megan Degenfelder said she will explore the issue with UW President Tom Buchanan.
What UW needs to see from the meeting and overall action is an increased security presence around War Memorial Stadium. This campus should not be known for a “War Memorial Jumper,” especially if such a title can be avoided. Certainly this will mean more costs for maintenance, but any cost at all can be justified if it is to save another human’s life – whether that human had been a man in his 40s or a 22-year-old student who was just about to embark on his life.
Most importantly, the student body, parents and the residents of Laramie need to see what steps the UW administration has undertaken toward increased security–not just downplayed issues or promised solutions.