With occurrences of campus violence rising and fears equally mounting, schools across the country are addressing security plans and preventative measures.

On Oct. 1 2015 nine lives were taken on the campus of Umpqua Community College in Rosenburg, Oregon. Unfortunately, Americans are no strangers to this kind of tragedy. TIME Magazine reports 45 shootings on school grounds in 2015, with 17 of those taking place on college campuses. Since then, occurrences of random campus gun-violence have been broadcasted on the nightly news on a seemingly weekly basis.

Due to the alarming frequency of violent campus incidents, schools have taken on specific protocols to both prevent as well as handle these situations.

The shooting at UCC reminded the Rockhurst community that on-campus gun violence is an unfortunate reality. Alex Mitchell, ‘17 heard about the UCC shooting on Twitter. “My stomach dropped,” Mitchell said, “It made me really think about my own safety not only on campus, but anywhere in public.”

Each school has their own safety protocols in place. Rockhurst chose to abide by the S.T.A.Y. procedure in an armed intruder situation. Students at Rockhurst should be familiar with S.T.A.Y. as every letter pertains to them directly:

Secure your area

Take cover

Advise others

You must take measures to protect yourself

Besides being familiar with S.T.A.Y, Matthew Quick, Vice President Dean of Students, explained the importance of students recognizing potential warning signs in their peers and the people around them. In many campus shooting situations, those familiar with the shooter express that they had noticed changes in the mood and actions of the shooter before the incident. “If people had acted on those warning signs, it (the incident) could have potentially been prevented,” Quick said.

Randy Hopkins, Chief of the Safety and Security Department at Rockhurst, explained that the members of the Rockhurst security team are constantly going through training. In fact, they recently trained with the Kansas City Police Department. Security at Rockhurst is, “Something that is constantly discussed” said Hopkins.

While Hopkins is constantly working with Rockhurst security on plans such as S.T.A.Y, Quick focuses on informing students of those plans. Quick said the e-mails sent to students about these incidents are to, “Make people think, what would I do if something would happen?”.

There are many ways students would be notified if a situation on campus were to arise. Alerts would be sent to students via text caster, e-mail system and the audible alert system. The major towers on campus, including the blue emergency towers, are equipped with an audio system that would allow for campus security to make announcements to the Rockhurst community members who are not in buildings.

If students have concerns or sense potential warning signs of a threat in their surroundings they should always speak up. Where should students go with concerns? “Security, security, security,” Quick said. Students can also reference the Campus Emergency Procedures pamphlet which is available in all residence halls on campus.

Violent campus tragedies are becoming far too prevalent in America. It is so important for students to stay informed on school plans and protocols, along with increasing their awareness of shifts in moods and behaviors of those around them.

At Rockhurst, maintaining safety is everyone’s job.