ASU will no longer rely on an "honor code" regarding reporting of weapons violations and will suspend those who make threats of violence, President Michael Crow announced at a press conference late Thursday afternoon.
Crow plans to revise University policy to require students and employees to notify ASU police of weapons violations.
"Even the awareness of weapons and the nondisclosure of that awareness will lead to sanction and punishment," he said.
ASU already bans the possession of weapons on campus, but in a Tuesday press conference, football coach Dirk Koetter suggested other players may have known Loren Wade had a weapon and didn't inform him.
Crow said the University would "set up mechanisms" to make reporting violations possible and expects to craft the new policy in a way that would avoid legal challenges.
Also, Crow said, "the University's policy will be shifted and upgraded" regarding students and employees who make verified threats of violence.
"All students and employees who threaten violence will be required to undergo immediate mental health assessment," Crow said, "and will be suspended from their employment or ... student status."
Crow said he would "activate" a University committee to adjudicate violations of the athletic code of conduct.
The committee's chair and most of its members will come from outside the athletic department, he said.
"Coaches are coaches," Crow said. "They're not psychiatrists. They're not psychologists. They're coaches."
Changes would be implemented "as rapidly and as instantaneously" as possible, he added.
As in a Tuesday press conference, Crow mentioned those who advocate allowing guns in bars.
On Tuesday, he said people who think there are no issues when alcohol and weapons mix, "are not very thoughtful about the fact that [the Wade incident] is one of the outcomes of the mixture of these ingredients."
Crow said Thursday the University is "doing our best to take steps in the opposite direction" of guns-in-bars supporters.
Crow said the University "needs to focus on providing more help to our faculty, for our coaches and for others" relating to violence and violations of the athletic code of conduct.
Reach the reporter at brian.indrelunas@asu.edu.
ONLINE EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was modified April 3. This article referred to a committee that will adjudicate violations of the student code of conduct, but the committee will actually only adjudicate violations of the athletic code of conduct. The article also quoted ASU President Michael Crow as speaking in reference to violations of the student code of conduct, but the comments were actually concerning the athletic code of conduct.
