Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students G.L. Black encouraged all students to view a new active assailant training video and look over the guidelines and resources detailed on the VUPS Active Assailant Resources page in an Oct. 6 email. According to a MyVU article, the email was sent in response to universities’ increased focus on improving campus safety.
Black reminded students in the email to download the VandySafe app, review the Public Safety Emergency Guides, update their contact information for AlertVU notifications if it is incorrect and reach out to the Student Care Network if they need assistance.
In an email to The Hustler, Tommye Sutton, interim chief of VUPD, said VUPD frequently revises its provided resources to stay up to date with current safety concerns affecting college campuses. He said he believes the new training video will help better prepare the Vanderbilt community.
“While protecting our community is our utmost priority, it also is critically important that our community members are prepared to respond effectively in an emergency or during an imminent threat,” Sutton said. “It was also important to us to have a customized training video set on the Vanderbilt campus as a way to further engage our community.”
Senior Eloise Sherard said she felt a combination of emotions after receiving the email. While she said she believes that the video is important, she did not feel reassured that the training in the video would be the most effective in the event she encountered a real active assailant.
“My initial reaction to the recent email was a mix of gratitude and uneasiness,” Sherard said in an email to The Hustler. “The resources were extremely helpful but, in all honesty, do not capture the fear that any student or faculty would have in the situation. The guidelines give a sort of perfect scenario for a horrible situation, but, if able to be followed, they are a great resource.”
Sherard said she believes VUPS sharing the new video through email might harm its efficacy because it could be missed or overlooked by some students.
“I believe [the video] is a great effort on Vanderbilt’s part, but it may not be entirely effective, as students may not check their emails or think it to be something important to read and view,” Sherard said. “If this was a mandatory module that students in orgs were required to complete, I believe it may have more effect.”
Sophomore Emily Roberts also said she wished VUPS would require all students to attend a training instead of sending out information through an email.
“While I think this video and email provide helpful information, what might be more effective is a mandatory meeting for all students at least once a year to ensure all students are actually receiving the information,” Roberts said. “I think we had programming related to this at the very beginning of freshman year but have not received a lot of information on it since.”
Sophomore Jashan Khurana said he appreciated the shared resources because they helped better prepare him for dangerous situations as an international student.
“Being an international student, preparing for [active assailant situations] was not really something I was prepared for,” Khurana said. “This whole concept of preparing in case there’s [an active assailant situation] is completely foreign to me, so all these materials that Vanderbilt has to offer actually make me feel safer at this school.”
Khurana said that the “Run, Hide, Fight” sections of the VUPS website made him feel more confident if he was ever in a situation where he encountered an active assailant.
“Even though it’s very intense to think about [being in a situation with an active assailant], it’s really reassuring to know that the university does take it seriously and provides training,” Khurana said.
