Brian N. Williams – The Conversation

Uriah Davis, left, a graduate student at Oklahoma State University, spoke to Police Chief Jeff Watts outside the Stillwater Police Department in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on June 3, 2020. AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

June 12, 2020

What colleges and universities can do to improve police‑community relations

Brian N. Williams, University of Virginia

Higher education can help empower students to take an active role in public safety. Here are several ways to do it.

Racial minorities face profiling on campus. Mr. Doomits/www.shutterstock.com

August 7, 2018

Smith College incident is latest case of racial ‘profiling by proxy’

Brian N. Williams, University of Virginia; Andrea M. Headley, University of California, Berkeley, and Megan LePere-Schloop, The Ohio State University

An incident in which a Smith College employee called police on a black student who ‘seemed out of place’ is just the latest in a string of cases of racial ‘profiling by proxy,’ three scholars argue.

College campuses can be unwelcoming environments for racial minorities. Mr. Doomits/www.shutterstock.com

July 16, 2018

When race triggers a call to campus police

Brian N. Williams, University of Virginia; Andrea M. Headley, University of California, Berkeley, and Megan LePere-Schloop, The Ohio State University

A longstanding view of minorities as outsiders contributes to negative encounters with campus police. A researcher argues how greater empathy can lessen the urge to call the police in the first place.

Contact Brian for