LETTER: BU must be responsive

Title

LETTER: BU must be responsive

Description

By: Natalie Orphanos
Posted: 4/20/07

In light of recent events, I am very disappointed in the administration's lack of a response to its students. Boston University prides itself on being a close-knit community despite its large size, a community in which each person is fully supported. However, this is not being expressed.

In the past, after tragedies, such as the fires near South Campus, BU students have been notified through email of the tragedy immediately and how the university is handling it. However, I sit by my computer three days after the Virginia Tech tragedy without an email. The only places I've been able to read about the tragedy on campus are The Daily Free Press and BU Today. My Residence Assistant even sent out an email giving us support and guidance. I need more than a publication to tell me that everything is okay. And while my RA showed that she cares, I need to feel like the university officials care, too, and that they are doing everything to ensure our safety. And I need to hear that directly from them.

This massacre is one that has affected the nation; it is not a remote incident. We have been reminded time and again through similar tragedies that these events can happen anywhere.

The students at Virginia Tech were not notified by the university after the first shooting took place in a dormitory. The shooter was able to send a video and his manifesto to NBC en route to the classroom building where he killed 30 people. Had the university taken more action, had it notified the students and faculty of the situation and had they placed the university on lockdown, the incident may have been prevented.

If that is not compelling enough, perhaps the fact that a BU student threatened to go on a rampage at another college in Boston similar to the one at Virginia Tech is more reason for the university to send an email out to the students. The media knew of this incident before many BU students had even heard about it.

In these times, BU's administration needs to react. The students need a response assuring them that our campus is a safe one. We need assurance from the administration that everything is being done to protect us. We need to be aware of incidents like these so we can decide to what to do and so we can be more aware of our surroundings. It is up to university officials to be responsive and to let us know that they are there and that they care.

Natalie Orphanos
COM '09

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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/04/20/Opinion/Letter.Bu.Must.Be.Responsive-2871464.shtml>The Daily Free Press - April 20, 2007</a>

Creator

Natalie Orphanos

Publisher

The Daily Free Press

Date

2007-08-14

Contributor

Sara Hood

Rights

Matt Negrin <editor@dailyfreepress.com>

Language

eng

Citation

Natalie Orphanos , “LETTER: BU must be responsive,” The April 16 Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, https://www.april16archive.org/items/show/1039.