HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – In response to a student’s death on The University of Southern Mississippi’s campus in September, the Student Government Association (SGA) recently passed a resolution urging the university to action. 

The SGA resolution calls on the USM administration to install suicide prevention signage and barriers on the fifth floor of its 4th Street parking garage. A Change.org petition advocating for a barrier on the top floor of the parking garage garnered over 2,700 signatures. As of publication, the cause of death for the student is not known. 

The SGA resolution was authored and sponsored by student Senators Logan Boudreaux, James Darby, Aaron Morgan, and Alesia Williams. It was then approved by the SGA President Jonathan Jenkins, Senior Vice President Alyson Gonzalez, and SGA Advisor Carl Thomas. 

“This resolution acts as a formal request that the administration of the University of Southern Mississippi immediately begin the process to plan and construct barriers on the fifth level of the Fourth Street Parking Garage,” the resolution said. 

According to the resolution SGA seeks to work in conjunction with a university to create a targeted solution to prevent more deaths from occurring in the parking garage. 

According to the International Parking and Mobility Institute, deterrence methods such as barriers and the presence of law enforcement and parking personnel save lives. 

“The installation of barriers on the fifth level of the parking structure would have deterred and prevented the loss of life.” the resolution said. 

Another student died after falling from the same location in October 2021, according to Southern Miss Student Media.