Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Virgina Tech, Day 2, Alive

The Convocation indicates that the University staff has been busy. It is polished in the right places. The school itself is not suffering a brand equity problem today: nor should it. The questions remain about the wisdom of the administration's actions and university preparedness, in general. An independent board will be called to evaluate the situation. Fault will be found. But consensus today is that a bad thing happened at a great school. As long as there are innocent students, decent faculty, and administrators such as the Dean of Students and Director of Counseling Services, the health of the institution will prevail.

Today we add a new problem: a troubled student, perhaps capable of violence, and the institution's responsibility to either that student or to the student body. MIT faced this very question on a student suicide. The gunman was identified as a problem and bought to the attention of the administration. Concerned faculty were told that nothing could be done. True? The gunman was taken out of classes and tutored individually. The gunman may or may not have been advised to seek counseling. The gunman, nonetheless, was able to buy guns. Now we are beyond the scope of higher educational administration and deep into gun control. We cannot hold the university responsible for national gun policy. But here's a question. Were the gunman's parents ever contacted? I know, I know. He was 23. He was an adult. The school is required to maintain his confidentiality. I nonetheless ask—because I'm sure the administrator who said 'nothing could be done' and the faculty who identified him as a problem—I'm sure they are feeling today as if perhaps something more could have been done. Surely, surely something. Or maybe they just should have locked the campus down after the first two shootings.

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