Our nation's postsecondary institutions are entrusted to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for the students, faculty, and staff who live, work, and study on campus. Planning for emergencies may be challenging for institutions of higher education (IHEs) because of geography, environment, governance, around-the clock-operations, and…

Ensuring the safety and security of students is vital to creating a positive learning environment. Active shooter situations at postsecondary institutions resulted in about 150 casualties between 2000 and 2017. This prevalence of gun violence at postsecondary institutions, which is often viewed in the context of larger conversations around gun…

"Guns on Campus: The Architecture and Momentum of State Policy Action" offers a detailed summary of state legislative action and higher education system policy decisions that have occurred in two specific categories: (1) States that have permitted or are seeking to permit guns on campus; and (2) States that have prohibited or are seeking…

Five years after the Virginia Tech massacre prompted a student in Texas to start a Facebook page in favor of the right to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, the resulting group, Students for Concealed Carry, has advanced its cause. In more than a dozen states, legislation has been introduced to allow the carrying of concealed firearms on…

Campus safety and the role of college and university officials relative to safety are important topics on the agendas of political leaders at the state and national levels. Student affairs leaders must consider how to contribute in a meaningful way to these very important conversations. (Contains 1 footnote.)

From natural disasters to criminal violence, facilities officers are often called on to address campus safety and security issues beyond their usual responsibilities. Their experiences in coping with unanticipated events have produced a catalogue of lessons learned that can help them and their peers at other institutions who might face the same…

The impact of the rampage shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007 continues to be felt across the U.S. and the world. Clearly this incident, along with other active shooter incidents that have occurred since the Virginia Tech tragedy, has impacted one's awareness of campus safety and security. A number of states, other governmental entities,…

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling overturning Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban could have implications for colleges that prohibit firearms on their campuses. Last month the court declared for the first time that the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep a gun, not just the right of states to maintain armed…

People can bring guns most places in Arizona, but the state's Board of Regents has long banned all weapons from public college campuses. Now some lawmakers are trying to change that. State Senator Karen S. Johnson, a Republican, proposed a bill in January that would trump the regents' ban, allowing anyone with a concealed-weapons permit to carry a…

This month a company in Spokane, Washington, plans to release "Shots Fired on Campus," an instructional DVD with strategies for preventing and surviving a gun rampage. About 50 colleges have ordered the video, and its creators expect to sell several hundred more this fall. Since the massacre at Virginia Tech last year, colleges everywhere have…

In the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, a number of state legislatures are considering bills that would allow people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. The author recently spoke at a conference on higher-education law, sponsored by Stetson University and the National Association of Student…

The most high-profile story of the year touching the higher education community was undisputedly the killings at Virginia Tech in April when student Seung-Hui Cho opened fire, leaving 33 people dead, including himself. To date, it is the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. However, in September, the Delaware State University (DSU) community…

Making sure law enforcement officers are current with their professional training has always been a top priority of police departments whether they must protect a city or a college campus. However, as training has expanded with many new certification categories, tracking all of these for each officer has grown more complex. This has prompted many…