At the AUSA meeting last week the Virginia Tech shooting was first on the agenda as the Senate passed a resolution to commemorate the victims of the tragedy.
“ItB isB aB gestureB ofB theB AUSAB Senate’sB desireB toB recognizeB and standB withB theB victims,B friendsB andB families,” saidB Sen. Michael Nicoletti, who co-authored and sponsored the resolution.
Resolution 8C states, “The University of Denver stands in solidarity with Virginia Tech in mourning and healing and that we will never forget the victims of this senseless crime.”
The Senate also heard from Provost Gregg Kvistad and Director of Campus Safety Don Enloe about steps the university is taking to deal with the issue of shootings on college campuses and make sure an event like Virginia Tech could not happen at DU.
Kvistad discussed the development of a critical incident management plan, which includes a critical incident response plan. Although details of the response plan could not be released for security reasons, the Provost said it relied heavily on DU’s close relationship with the Denver Police Department.
“Right now police can respond to events on campus literally in two minutes,” said Kvistad.
Kvistad and Enloe also addressed what students could do to help prevent an event like the Virginia Tech shooting from happening again. The DU Health and Counseling Center is offering sessions this week which are designed to teach students about the warning signs and behavioral indications of people that might be in need of mental help. Training sessions are also being developed to teach students what to do if a life threatening situation occurs here at DU.
“The training sessions will teach students the practical things they should know to make themselves as safe as possible,” said Enloe. “These training sessions will be made accessible to all students and designed for classrooms as well as residence halls.”
In other matters, the Senate also heard appeals from student organizations about AUSA’s funding of groups, which occurred at the end of March. Model United Nations, Engineering Club, I-Team, Undergraduates Women’s Council and Amnesty International all came before the Senate last week to challenge the designated amount of funding they are currently granted by the AUSA.
