Campus Safety and the Benefits of Constructive Conversations

My phone starts buzzing, or I overhear that ‘OMG tone’ in the rumblings in the Learning Center near my office.  There’s been another school shooting.  At a community college.  People are dead.  Families are grieving.  News alerts go out, with varying accuracy and tone, and unwavering repetitiveness.  Pundits grab for a microphone.  And for at least a week afterwards, there will be varying responses featured on the media, concerns from my family about whether my job is more dangerous, and furtive comments on campus from colleagues or students.  

In some schools, there may be an email sent reminding employees to seek help from our EAP, or to contact campus police if you are concerned for your safety.  Perhaps even a comment from counselors about vicarious trauma, and the triggering impact that these national traumas have on those who struggle with PTSD.  Or collective pondering about what makes one student resilient and another go, literally, ballistic.  And a very real concern from a faculty member that a bad grade she assigns could cause a student to lose their grip on reality and do something deadly.  Questions go unasked, unanswered.  And then we go back to business-as-usual; until the next time.  I wonder what this says to our students.  Does anyone dare ask “Do you feel safe at school?” or “How should we address this issue?”

I felt that similarly frustrated this semester after viewing “The Hunting Ground” (http://www.thehuntinggroundfilm.com/) film about sexual assaults on college campuses.  I wondered how violent acts like this could possibly happen and be ‘under the radar?’  Current figures estimate that 20% of college freshman will be assaulted.  Did you know that the reported percent of Military Sexual Trauma is also 20%?  The Do-Not-Talk rule doesn’t seem to be helping reduce these incidents, in fact, it may contribute to it.  How can we foster a safe learning environment for our students, and a safe working environment for our employees, without an open discourse on these difficult topics?

Should we address these horrible current events head-on in the classroom, or in private sessions with those who bring it up, or do we just wait?  Does everyone know we have a defined response to safety concerns (with a handy chart)?  We also have a Title IX Coordinator for addressing sexual assault issues.  Whenever I have questions on safety/conduct or a concern, we have a very accessible Campus Police presence (thank you!) and we have our CARE Team (928-776-2273: Program into your cell phone) and perhaps most importantly, we do have each other.  

There are a lot of different opinions regarding campus safety, some are informed, some are emotional, all need to be heard.  I don’t know the answer.  I’m not even sure that I know the right questions.  It’s probably good that we don’t know how many incidents are averted just by someone caring to ask, “Is everything ok?” or “What can I do to help you right now?”  And though I would prefer to ignore the horrible news like these crimes on campus for my own peace of mind, I think the higher path is to discuss them openly and remind everyone of our resources.  No one can learn, when they are concerned for their safety.