An Autumn Reflection
It's been a little over three years since May 23, 2014 and almost two years since November 13, 2015. On both those dates I was working at universities that, without warning, lost students to hateful violence.
On May 23, I was at University of California Santa Barbara when a deadly series of events unfolded in Isla Vista, a small, unincorporated town that houses many hundreds of UCSB and many Santa Barbara City College students.
Elliot Rodger went on a stabbing and shooting spree through Isla Vista with the express purpose of killing as many people as possible in retribution for perceived slights by women. Before shooting himself, he had killed six and injured 13.
As you might imagine, in the years before the incident, many Isla Vista student residents held rather negative views toward University Police, the Sheriff's Office and the Fire Department. Those first responders, after all, did traffic stops, came to tell partiers to tone down noise, issued citations for open carry of alcohol and underage drinking, required permits for beach bonfires, and generally interfered with what many students felt were the markers of university freedoms.
What you may not know is that in the months and years that followed those savage attacks by Rodger, the students who were there in 2014 and after set up walls of gratitude to law enforcement and other first responders. They established new joint councils to cooperate with all first responders to look for better ways to make Isla Vista safer for everyone. The tragedy brought the university community together in grief, but also made clear how each person's safety and well being depends on others. In this case, those others were first responders.
Students who were injured received life saving treatments from women and men in uniform. Injured students were saved because of the swift and expert intervention of EMTs, fire fighters, and police.
Students who were traumatized by losing friends, seeing the carnage or experiencing the anxiety that random violence causes, sent hundreds of thank you notes to University Police and Student Affairs professionals who made themselves available 24/7 to help students come through the terrible experience with greater, not less, resilience over time.
Those students who were running for their lives that night saw law enforcement running toward the shooter. Given that hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found in the shooter's car, heroic actions by UCSB police saved many on May 23, 2014. UCSB students annually memorialize their classmates' deaths and injuries, but they also honor the courage of the first responders.
Our Nohemi's life was, sadly, not saved in Paris but many others were because of first responders. Our remaining CSULB design students in Paris received wonderful care from the faculty at the Strate School of Design in Paris. These faculty members reassured them and allowed them to finish their international experiences safely. They returned with gratitude toward the Strate faculty and the Parisian first responders.
In memory of these two life-changing events I work daily for caring relationships between students and University Police. Friends can have their friends' backs. Strangers can be Good Samaritans. First responders save lives.
I am thankful for our University Police who consistently run toward danger while warning others to run away, and I encourage you to get to know them. Have a Coffee With A Cop. Eat pizza with our University Police Chief Fernando Solorzano. Strike up conversations with officers on patrol. Seek out, pet, and be amazed by our K9 detection dog, Avery. Get to know our officers' stories and tell them yours. You will find strength in celebrating shared strengths, triumphs and vulnerabilities. This is the surest way to create a safe and healthy campus community.
Go Beach!
