How Safe Are We?

 How well prepared is NYIT to deal with critical incidents?By Nigel ChiwayaChronicle Senior WriterCollege’s image as the safe haven for free thought has been shattered in recent years by a wave of shootings and other such violent acts. By now most are aware of the events that took place at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois, but a quick internet scan shows that at least seven shootings have occurred on American college campuses since January 1, 2007. Shootings have affected schools in states as far away as Washington and as close as New Jersey. The rise in gun-related violence leaves administration and law enforcement scrambling to find ways to better protect students. At NYIT, administrators were led to hold an emergency preparedness seminar in Old Westbury prior to the start of the academic year last August. All NYIT staff and faculty from both New York campuses attended. According to William Joseph, Director of Security, a number of catastrophic event scenarios were covered. “Obviously,” said Joseph, “the discussion of the Virginia Tech tragedy, its impact and possible solutions was of particular interest to attendees.”This leads to the question, how would NYIT respond were a gunman begin to open fire in an NYIT building?  Students are advised to barricade themselves inside classrooms away from an assailant and call the police. Campus security guards, who do not carry weapons, would also be in harms way. Should such an event occur, students and faculty would simply have to wait until the police arrived. “Incidents beyond the sensible response capabilities of NYIT personnel (armed persons, serious fires, etc) would be referred to NYC law enforcement and the fire department,” Joseph said.In such a scenario, NYIT’s Columbus Circle location would likely be an asset, as the NYPD 18^th precinct is on 54^th street, only seven blocks away.However far-fetched (hopefully) the scenario of an NYIT shooting may be, there are other events that administration has prepared for. For example: fires. NYIT has conducted multiple fire drills over the course of the year, and every floor in every building has a fire warden charged with helping evacuate the building.When a critical incident occurs, efficient communication between a college and its students is often vital. In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, school administration was soundly criticized for waiting nearly two hours after the first set of shootings to notify students. With this in mind, NYIT debuted a new text-message alert system in the fall. Students can sign up for the alerts by visiting nyit.edu/alerts. In the event of a incident, students that have signed up will receive text messages on their cell phones alerting them to the situation. The system was used in February to inform students of the campus’ closing due to snow, and would likely be used extensively in the event of an emergency.Editor’s Note: Nigel Chiwaya is a resident assistant as the Clark Residence hall, and therefore is a member of the NYIT primary response team for residence hall emergencies.