What would we do?

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy, that question looms heavy over anyone attending a college right now.  What would we do if the appalling acts of one sick gunman were to occur on the St. John Fisher College campus?

What would we do?

Fisher has prepared an Emergency Response Plan.  A six-page document, its purpose is to ensure that the College “[p]repares for and responds effectively to an emergency situation through the appropriate use of College and community resources,” “[p]rovides a framework for enhancing the safety and security of its operations,” and “[m]itigates the long-term effects of an emergency on its operations and mission.”

The plan addresses everything from who makes up the Emergency Response Team (ERT) to what each person’s responsibility is in the case of an emergency.  The plan touches on what to do if the College has advanced warning of an emergency, and it states what should happen after an emergency.

There is one glaring piece missing though – what would we do during an emergency?

The Fisher Emergency Response Plan fails to build framework to counter an emergency as it is happening.  As painful as it is to say, if Virginia Tech were to happen on our Pittsford campus, the College’s Emergency Response Plan wouldn’t serve a purpose until the horror was over.

What would we do?

The administration needs to immediately revisit and revamp the Emergency Response Plan.  Not next week, not next month, not when some time opens up – now.  Without hesitation.  This isn’t some frivolous discussion like “how should we use the old bookstore?” or “what ever happened to the coffee shop?” – this is a life-or-death scenario.  As the administration at Virginia Tech is finding out, when the death of a student is involved, blame will be assigned.

The fact that an unstable student went on a rampage was beyond the school’s control.  What was in their control though, was how they responded.  A few e-mails hours after the first shootings were not enough.  The school was not locked down, and the administration chose to believe that the shooter had left campus.

What would we do?

The Fisher Emergency Response plan discusses how the registrar will “[r]eorganize the academic schedule” in the case of an emergency, but it doesn’t chart out how students will be warned.  Yes, it says that the dean of students “[w]ill coordinate the flow of information to the student population,” but how?

Most students don’t even check their e-mails.  Many just ignore or delete them, being so used to the inundation of junk to their inboxes.  One solution that many schools are proposing is the creation of a text message alert system.  Even if every student doesn’t have a cell phone or doesn’t carry one, the sheer number of people who do would be enough to spread word of an unfolding emergency.  While not a perfect way of notifying students, this seems to be the strongest option so far.  That is what will matter in the case of an emergency, as a response mechanism is only as good as its system of communication.

Short of creating some kind of text alert system, the Emergency Response Plan has to spell out a way to notify students.  Call resident assistants and have them warn their residents and lock their halls down.  Give professors pagers that can notify them of an emergency.  Something, anything to make sure as many lives are safe as possible.  Call, text, page – as long as people know what’s going on as it’s happening.

What would we do?

It is likely that the majority of students on America’s campuses have asked themselves this question over the past week.  St. John Fisher College needs to find a solid answer to that question quickly.  Virginia Tech had experienced a manhunt for a murderer on campus last August, but was still unprepared for an emergency nearly a year later.

There is too much at risk to ignore this issue.  The College’s Emergency Response Plan is a good place to begin, but it has too many shortcomings to be called complete.  We urge everyone involved – Dr. Donald Bain, Dr. Ron Ambrosetti, Michael McCarthy, Dr. Rick DeJesus – to realize that this is not a condemnation of the work that has been put into the Emergency Response Plan, and to see that it is instead a plea to make it stronger.

It is better to ask now “What would we do?” than to have to ask later “What could we have done?”