Governor Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia doesn’t view college the same way he did four months ago. In the wake of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech “we think about the safety of our students in a different way after April 16 than we did before,” the governor told hundreds of Virginia college officials yesterday at a statewide meeting on campus security, according to newspaper reports.
College security and technology officials met at Virginia Commonwealth University to exchange ideas about prevention, early detection, and action.
Norfolk State University is planning to extend an email notification system to reach cellphones and other electronic devices, according to the Newport News Daily Press.The college is also installing more security cameras and hiring more police officers.
Christopher Newport University will continue a practice started four years ago: holding weekly “informal threat assessment” meetings. There, administrators from residential life, counseling, academic and judicial affairs, as well as the university police, talk about students who appear to have some behavioral, substance abuse, or academic issues.
But some small-college administrators worry that they can’t afford costly security upgrades, according to the Associated Press. — Josh Fischman
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