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Staying safe
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SECURITY ON CAMPUS
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he unbelievably horrific news of the massacre on the campus of Virginia Tech last spring touched everyone. But for those of us on college campuses around the country, it gave pause to wonder, “Could it happen here?” The answer, of course, is that senseless, random violence can happen anywhere, anytime. A more important question we must continually ask is “Are our students safe?”
Whether a student is in class, walking across campus, or sleeping in a residence hall, there are a number of things that TLU does to protect the safety of each and every student, employee, and visitor to the campus.
In the wake of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, TLU, just as other colleges and universities around the country, examined our security measures and emergency notification procedures to ensure that they are updated and that we are doing everything possible to provide a safe and secure campus.
Security on campus For many years, TLU has had safety and emergency measures in place. The TLU safety and emergency management committee meets monthly to assess risks and make ongoing changes to improve the safety and security of TLU.
The first visible sign of security on the TLU campus is the university police. The on-call police provide 24/7 coverage, adding the visibility and security a modern campus requires.
There are 12 members of the campus police; all are licensed and certified Texas Peace Officers. Two of the officers have graduated from the prestigious FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., and two TLU officers have graduated from the FBI Command College.
The training presents state of the art investigative techniques and prepares officers for crisis situations.
The TLU police department also works closely with other local authorities, including the Seguin Police Department, Guadalupe County Sheriff, and FBI San Antonio Division.
Residence halls are always locked and are accessible only with a card key, issued to residents of that particular hall. Other campus facilities, except for the Alumni Student Center, are locked to unauthorized persons by midnight.
The university has security cameras located in a number of strategic locations and has added lighting around the campus to increase safety. Even so, the campus police are available to escort people across campus after dark.
Emergency notification But sometimes things do happen. Randomly and without reason, a crisis can occur anywhere. As much as a university works to prevent a crisis, if something does happen, the second part of the equation is just as important. Do students, faculty, and staff know what to do in case of an emergency? Can the community be notified quickly and efficiently?
“In the event an emergency situation occurs at TLU, the university will do its very best to notify the campus community in a timely manner of the nature of the emergency and the actions that should be taken,” says Steve Anderson, senior vice president for university relations and chair of the safety and emergency management committee.
While information about emergency procedures is given during orientation and emergency cards are in every office, classroom, and residence hall, students may be less focused on security than the administration. Systems of notification have been in place for several years. Blast e-mails, messages to voice mailboxes, and Web site notification are routinely used to notify the campus community.
Warning siren But the university continually strives to improve, and in January, in conjunction with the Guadalupe County Emergency Management Office, TLU installed an emergency warning siren on campus. This siren is part of the countywide emergency warning siren system and is one of many such sirens in the county. If a situation develops that threatens the entire Seguin community (e.g., tornado, flood), the County Emergency Management Office will activate the sirens. TLU, through the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office, also has the ability to activate the siren for an emergency situation that is specific to the TLU campus.
In the event of an emergency warning siren, members of the TLU community are directed to access more information about the situation via their cell phones, the TLU Web site, local radio station, email and voice mailboxes.
Text messages A text message notification system was added early in 2007 and implemented June 1. Members of the campus community who register their cell phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses can be notified immediately should an emergency or crisis situation occur. The system is free to the campus, carries no advertisements, and is used only in emergency situations to notify the campus community in a quick, effective manner.
“As has been noted by many college and university officials and others across the country following the Virginia Tech tragedy, this cell phone text messaging system appears to hold the best promise for quickly and simultaneously notifying the largest number of people possible – both on- and off-campus – about an emergency situation,” Anderson said.
Following the Virginia Tech shootings, security and emergency preparedness are top of mind for students, parents, faculty, staff, and the country as a whole. As time fades these tragic memories, campuses often go back to the day-to-day routines. But those responsible for campus safety remain vigilant.
“I feel like we’re as ready as anybody can be,” Anderson said. “We’ve prepared for many different situations – we’re ready to respond within minutes to anything. We just pray that the tragic events we’ve seen elsewhere never occur here.”
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