The shootings at Virginia Tech last April urged officials at St. John’s University to review security procedures. Result: use a text-messaging system informing students of a crisis.
It worked.
On Wednesday, 26 September, a masked gunman walked through the St. John’s campus in Jamaica, Queens. The 10,000 students on campus at the time responded calmly to the crisis. The gunman, suffering from schizohrenia, was quickly apprehended.
Dr. James Pellow, St. John’s CEO, said, “How do you communicate instantly?” Text-messaging was the answer. He said, “In yesterday’s incident, we observed, I believe, God’s gentle hand protecting and preserving our university,” he said. “God can work in our midst, and when he does so, he does it through other people.”
One student thought the text-messaging system would have saved lives at Virginia Tech. Other universities are considering a similar security system.
Although only 2,100 students of the 20,000 total student population had signed up for the “crisis” text-messaging program, word spread quickly throughout the campus. The day after the crisis, subscribers to the program soared to 6,542. St. John authorities may make participation mandatory. Dr. Pellow said, “To have 18-year-olds react very responsibly and very calmly was very pleasing to us.”
(The New York Times, 9/28/07)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/nyregion/28security.html
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