To the Editor:

The Hustler has done a great disservice to students and the entire Vanderbilt community by choosing sarcasm and reckless generalizations over reporting and responsible journalism. The safety of the campus is the highest priority, and Vanderbilt takes emergency planning very seriously. The university has extensive resources, capabilities and protocols to deal with the imaginable and the unimaginable. This past week, in response to questions about student mental health, law enforcement and communications policies at Vanderbilt, the university prepared a fact sheet that is available at www.vanderbilt.edu/campussafety and linked directly from the home page.

Ensuring safety and security at a place like Vanderbilt is a daunting challenge. We have an open campus of 330 acres with 233 buildings and, at any given time of the day, between 20,000 and 40,000 students, faculty, staff, patients and visitors. We are constantly reviewing our plans and procedures and making adjustments based on real-life (as opposed to theoretical) experiences at Vanderbilt and elsewhere. As you may recall, the shooting in Morgan in 2005 led to a number of changes, some of which are still being implemented because they involve significant physical changes. Likewise, the horrific situation at Virginia Tech has illustrated the importance of rapid communications in times of emergency, which is why the university expanded the MobileVU text messaging service and encouraged all students, faculty and staff to enroll (and 1,000 did in the first 45 minutes after the campus e-mail went out on Friday).

It is unfortunate that it takes a national tragedy to focus attention on this essential topic. Every department and office at Vanderbilt has some responsibility for emergency preparedness, and there is extensive and ongoing preparation across the university. Likewise, every individual — student and employee — has a responsibility to become, and stay, informed about this issue. We welcome the opportunity to work with students and to come up with even more, and better, ways to educate our community.

But let’s not short-circuit the conversation by demeaning the tireless and serious work and intentions of the many people at Vanderbilt who are responsible for the safety of our university, and who devote considerable time, effort and energy to the task with often little recognition or reward.

Michael Schoenfeld
Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs