Colleges across the country are developing their own responses to the school shooting epidemic, and Hunter College is no different. Students entered the new school year to see “active shooter protocol” signs all over campus and an email in their inboxes pleading for them to “know their ABCs: avoid, barricade and confront.”
“We are a safe urban campus, but we are always looking for new and additional strategies to build on that,” said a Hunter spokesperson. “In an era where gun violence in schools has become a growing national concern, we redoubled efforts to strengthen campus safety in that area.”
The “ABCs” that the Department of Public Safety issued in response to a possible shooter on campus is in line with the basic procedures all schools are dispensing to students. The three main courses of action are to run, hide and fight. Last spring, the office held a series of meetings with the Senate, the USG and student groups to gather feedback, according to the spokesperson. Although the policy was rolled out this semester, it has been in development since March.
According to Public Safety, many classrooms now have new locks and shades for internal windows that are specifically designed to protect people in an active-shooter situation. The emergency notification system, CUNY Alert, has been consistently tested and is arranged to notify students of any danger. All the communication and procedures have been made available on the Hunter Public Safety website.
Despite these efforts of Public Safety, some believe that a sign behind class room doors is insufficient. “More could be done to engage students with the protocol and explain to them how the school went about this process,” said Saifeldeen Zihiri, the student welfare commissioner for the USG.
