The Gustavus community has responded in a variety of ways to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech University. Instinctively, of course, there have been outpourings of sympathy and prayers to colleagues and peers at Virginia Tech. In addition, as have many other colleges and universities over the past few weeks, Gustavus has reflected upon how it routinely identifies individuals who may be struggling and/or represent threats to self or others within our campus community. Weekly for the past 17 years a group of staff has met to ensure-to the degree that we can- that students, in particular, are not falling through the cracks. This group of staff members bring forth a wide range of concerns to the table in a highly confidential setting, and identify the strategies of support, outreach, and direct intervention. If a crisis situation arose at Gustavus, we currently have the capacity to send e-mail and messages to campus telephones out fairly quickly. We are actively looking into systems that would permit us to send messages to individuals’ cell phones, or allow discrete and different voice announcements to be sent to our campus buildings as to what is going on and what people in that location should do in response.
Although this event may seem like “old news” to your student, it may be helpful to touch base with them about a variety issues including their own personal safety. Individuals process these national events in a variety of ways and with differing timelines, depending on their own personal connections or experiences. Please encourage your student to have open conversations with you as well as to seek out campus resources such as Residential Life, Dean of Students Office, Chaplains Office, Counseling Center, faculty members or other employees they identify as a resource.
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