College Refuses to Reveal Public Records

Hassan Murtaza, the former Student Senate Vice President, was arrested for using a knife to threaten another student on Sept. 13. While Public Safety sent an email report to students detailing the event, administration withheld Murtaza’s name. Requests for the incident report were denied. Administrators stated that the release of this information would be against the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Questions arose among HVCC students and staff about the situation. “It was the [Student Senate] Vice President? I had no idea,” said Josh Huntley, a student at HVCC.

FERPA only applies to academic records and has no hold on criminal documents, such as incident reports, according to the Student Press Law Center.

“Significantly, Congress amended FERPA in 1992 expressly to remove privacy protection created by a campus security agency or police “for purposes of law enforcement.” As a result of this change, it is illegitimate for a police or public safety agency to cite FERPA in refusing to release an arrest record, an incident report, or the identities of the students named in those documents,” said ‘FERPA and Access to Public Records,’ a document published by SPLC.

The college also did not notify the campus community of the abduction of a female student from the parking garage in November of 2011, as reported by the Hudsonian in Volume 61, Issue 8

While some people were unaware of the details of Murtaza’s case, others felt that Public Safety did their job correctly.

“I am just glad that Public Safety took care of [the situation] quickly and that no one was hurt,” said Dennis Kennedy, Director of Communications and Marketing at HVCC.

Alex Duerr, Student Senate President, said, “Everyone knew right away. It was all transparent for everyone to see. It is unfortunate that [the incident] happened, but Fred Aliberti and the whole crew handled it well.”

Troy Criminal Court complied with requests for information on the incident. The courthouse, which was the location of Murtaza’s arraignment, handed over all documents, including arrest reports, criminal charges, and Murtaza’s release on bail.

The Public Safety incident report, which, according to United States law, is considered public, was never released by the administration of HVCC.

“I had no idea,” said Kevin Mosca, a Fine Arts senior. “[So far, I] have never had to worry about anyone going off like this.”