Police arrested 17 Texas Christian U. students this morning beginning at 5:30 on and around the campus after a six-month drug investigation.
The students have been separated from campus and it was announced at the conference that more arrests are likely to be made.
The names of students have not been released, but all students have been separated from the campus, said Kathy Cavins-Tull, vice chancellor of student affairs.
“There’s no doubt all arrested today are drug dealers,” said TCU Police Chief Steven McGee. “These students engaged in hand-to-hand delivery with undercover officers.”
Captain Ken Dean reported in the press conference that two female and 15 males were of the arrested, three of which were on-campus residents, 14 off-campus.
The drugs involved: marijuana, ecstasy pills, and a powdered form of ecstasy commonly called “molly”, prescription drugs such as Xanax, hydrocodone and Oxycontin, said McGee.
“99.9 percent of the kids here do the right thing, and we want to make sure that the kids that aren’t are not at TCU,” Chancellor Victor Boschini said at the press conference.
The email from Boschini from 8:05 a.m.:
Dear Campus Community,
Early today the Fort Worth Police Department and TCU Campus Police concluded an investigation into drug selling on and around campus that unfortunately led to the arrest of many current TCU students.
While this news is certainly shocking and disappointing, it is important to remember that TCU has clear expectations for its students: that they behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law. These students are charged with acting in a manner that is incompatible with TCU values and against the law. That is simply unacceptable and such reported behavior is not tolerated at this University.
We have a responsibility to ensure that our campus environment is free of such behavior. Today’s actions highlight that responsibility. The students involved were immediately separated from TCU and criminally trespassed from campus. Further, according to University policy, students arrested and found in violation of distributing drugs are subject to immediate expulsion from TCU.
TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this. In fact, Campus Police records show only five student arrests related to drug law violations in recent years. I have asked our vice chancellor for student affairs, Dr. Kathy Cavins-Tull, to examine whether any new programs or procedures need to be implemented to curtail this type of behavior in the future. The Fort Worth Police Department also has offered to help in these efforts.
Today’s events have forever changed the lives of the involved students, and we hope they will find a healthy way to move forward. Also, the next couple of weeks will be tough for the TCU family. There is no doubt that it will hurt to see our name associated with this type of behavior. But we must not allow this moment to define us. We must remember that we are overwhelmingly a community of dedicated students, faculty and staff and focused on changing the world through our collective work and commitment to leadership.
Sincerely,
Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr.