Lawsuit alleges lax security at Morehouse homecoming

A lawsuit filed this week claims insufficient security during 2016 homecoming festivities on the Morehouse College campus led to injuries and medical bills for some guests. It was filed, coincidentally, a day after two Morehouse students were robbed just hours after 2018 homecoming festivities concluded.

Attorney Robert A. Elsner, who filed in Fulton County State Court on behalf of five people invited to the 2016 homecoming, said a scuffle broke out in a crowded tailgating area. His clients got caught up in the melee, and the identities of whoever actually inflicted injuries is unknown, he said.

“There was no security there at all and nobody to help, nobody to intervene,” Elsner said.

Plaintiffs Amber Blacksher, Ronnie Blacksher Jr., Tiyonna Hogens, Kristie Hugley and Paige Lumpkin required emergency treatment and were left with a combined total of about $77,000 in medical bills, the lawsuit says.

“The cause of all the plaintiffs’ injuries was the result of the negligence and carelessness of the defendants, jointly and severally, in failing to keep the premises and approaches to Morehouse’s campus and, in particular, to the area designated as the tailgate area (safe) as required by (Official Code of Georgia article) 51-3-1,” it says.

That part of the state code reads, “Where an owner or occupier of land, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads others to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose, he is liable in damages to such persons for injuries caused by his failure to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises and approaches safe.”

Neighboring Spelman, which celebrates homecoming with Morehouse, also was named in the lawsuit.

“We respect the legal process and it is our practice not to discuss active litigation,” Morehouse said in a statement. Spelman also declined to comment.

The lawsuit happens to follow a spate of crimes near those campuses that have campus public safety officials and the Atlanta Police Department on alert. On Sunday, two Morehouse College students were robbed at gunpoint on campus by people they had invited into a residence hall. They were not hurt, and campus police did not say what was stolen. Last week, a Morehouse student was shot during an attempted carjacking at a gas station near the school. In September, a Clark Atlanta University student was shot in the back as she was driving near campus.

Morehouse Police Chief Valerie Dalton has said the school would launch “an aggressive campaign to equip our students, faculty and staff with safety tips that they can use when they are traveling from Morehouse College to businesses and res- idential areas in the neighboring community.”

Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields announced last month a campus security task force with representatives from the area schools, and said the department would step up patrols around the Atlanta University Center, which includes Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman.

“When people send their children to college, they expect them to grow and learn in a safe environment,” she said Wednesday. “We have a responsibility to provide a strong presence and visibility around college campuses that sends a clear signal to criminals that we will not tolerate them preying on students. I believe our recent response to these crimes around the AUC has been effective, and I have no plans of letting up in our efforts. We have made, and will continue to make, arrests of those who choose to target students on any campus in the city limits.”