SAC Media reporter Lucy Rivas sits down with Mt. SAC President Martha Garcia to discuss updates on the proposed plan for campus security to acquire AR-15 weapons.
In this exclusive interview, President Garcia addresses student concerns, clarifies the decision-making process and shares when the campus community can expect more information.
Watch to hear directly from the president about transparency, safety and student voice at Mt. SAC.
Transcript
Lucy Rivas: Hello, this is Lucy reporting for Sac Media. During the Spring semester of 2025, a proposition was made for security to acquire AR-15 weapons that would be used in case of emergencies. The plan was met with a lot of backlash at the time, and there haven’t been any updates since.
We are currently in the Fall semester and I’m here with President Garcia to talk about that and see if we could get any updates.
Dr. Garcia, I wanted to ask if you had any update for the students about the AR-15’s?
President Martha Garcia: So we will continue having discussions this Fall semester. We have not moved forward with any decisions. It is important for all the students in the campus to know that if we determine to move forward, that the first thing that would happen would be to hold an informational meeting with the board of trustees. And then depending on what is discussed during that board meeting, if they ask for us to bring an action item, then we would bring it at a full, at a later or subsequent board meeting. But there is a process so the campus community will be informed.
President Martha Garcia: I wanna make sure that we. Feel confident that that’s gonna happen. We have a forum, President’s Forum scheduled on November 5th. We should provide additional information then as well.
Lucy Rivas: So, the last time you held a President forum regarding the topic, there was a lot of contention between students.
Is there gonna be any new like rule set for a more fruitful discussion going forward?
President Martha Garcia: I think it’s important to set ground rules and I obviously learned from that experience as well. So we want the students to express what they feel. We want this campus, wants our students to feel comfortable expressing what they feel, but it is also important , then that when we do that, we do it in a way that we’re able to communicate and listen to each other. So setting ground rules is how we will start that forum.
Lucy Rivas: Okay. And lastly, if you had to say something to students to kind of ease their minds as to whether their voices matter or not, is there any assurance you can give as to that?
President Martha Garcia: Well, students, I want to be very clear about the fact that your voices matter. They’re important. This is the topic of AR-15’s. It’s a very sensitive matter. I also want you to know that I think about the safety of everyone on this campus, and it’s really difficult. It’s a very difficult situation to be in, but we want to hear from you.
Lucy Rivas: Okay. There you have it. Thank you for listening.
