CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – We hid in classrooms. We shut off the lights. We texted our families just in case…
That day we were reminded that as students we are not impervious nor shielded from the world around us. We were reminded that going to class is a risk just like any other, yet it is not just ourselves that have experienced this reminder.
“That day, I will always remember it, because I walked into my office after a conversation with a colleague and came in walked into the door here, and on my screen here that you see was the alert saying there’s an active shooter possibly on campus but it took up the entire screen, just pops up automatically when there’s an alert and then I began hearing the sirens as well,” said Andy Bechtel, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
Bechtel teaches news editing at UNC-Chapel Hill. Since the start of the year, he has had to cancel class twice due to armed personnel on campus. Although he had experienced a situation similar to this one, he was reminded once more of the importance of understanding what to do in an active shooter situation.
“I do have to admit that I am one of those people who had never, I had never had a drill,” said Jodi Magness a UNC-Chapel Hill professor in the Department of Religious Studies. “I heard about how students were telling faculty you know this is what you should be doing. I wasn’t in the classroom, so I wasn’t in that situation, I just read about it afterward, so being aware of what you need to do during a lockdown, which you guys grew up with, but my generation did not, yeah that’s something we all need to know unfortunately.”
While many things have not changed in Magness’ routine, she makes an effort to remember her phone when going from her office to class. Although Magness says she is not as attached to her phone as others may be, she is now more careful to remember it in case of an emergency such as this one. She believes its important to keep track of her cellphone in order to reach her husband and keep herself informed on the developments of the situation.
Professor David Pike, who teaches in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages, believes this violent act is not unlike what is experienced daily by others in Israel. He believes students must learn to come to terms with the reality they live in.
“It’s a tragedy for the kid, it’s a bigger tragedy for the professor, but young women being raped until their pelvises are broken strikes me as an issue that ought to remind people that the world they live in is not a nice place and then we hear all these emails coming out from South Building about safe spaces and restoring our trust and then listing all the offices that can provide counseling, it’s not the world I know, but it’s the world that students on this campus ought to be being introduced to in ways that they can contextualize things just a little bit better, “ said Pike.