Anyone who turned on the news or accessed the Internet after the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16, 2007, will never forget the images that flashed across television and computer screens. But imagine how first responders and others involved with campus operations had to feel after those tragic events took place.
I spoke with one such person last week when I recorded a podcast with Bill Elvey, who was the assistant vice president for facilities at Virginia Tech during the shootings. He since has moved on from that position, to a similar role at the University of Texas at Dallas. But he still has a hard time coming to grips with what happened in the unassuming town of Blacksburg, Va.
Elvey graciously agreed to discuss what happened at Virginia Tech, but at the end of the podcast, he admitted talking about those events still evokes unthinkable memories. Elvey and his department had a great deal of responsibility after the shootings. Facilities management supported the needs of first responders and prepared a memorial for the evening following the shootings. Campus life, as difficult as it might seem, had to move forward. Elvey and his department prepared facilities for summer and fall classes, hoping to help restore a sense of normalcy to the shaken campus.
When events like this occur, a significant amount of questions surface among facilities management departments. What could have been done differently? Were we as a department unprepared for such an event? How can the department help in preventing this from happening again? People feel sorrow for the victims and their affected families, of course, but it’s easy to forget about those who were responsible for getting campus operations up and running in the days, weeks, and months following the event.
Elvey is applying some of the lessons learned from Virginia Tech to his current position at UT-Dallas. But each time the topic of campus security surfaces in department discussions, I have to think the events of April 16, 2007, run through Elvey’s mind one more time.