Dear Providence College Parents,

These last weeks of April have been filled with heartbreaking news that has had a profound effect on parents of college students and campus administrators throughout our nation. Before the morning of April 16, the terrible events that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech would have seemed unimaginable on a college campus. We can no longer say that.

The safety and security of all members of the Providence College campus community are among this institution’s highest priorities. As a parent who has entrusted your daughter or son to our care, be assured that we have a coordinated and comprehensive emergency response plan in place for responding to a variety of emergencies that could occur on the Providence College campus as a result of human action or natural events. The emergency response coordinator for our campus is Major John J. Leyden, executive director of the Office of Safety and Security and a 24-year veteran of the Rhode Island State Police.

Our response plan includes the use of e-mail and telephone communications, as well as electronic and printed notices, to alert the campus community of emergency situations. In addition, we have developed a close and collaborative relationship with the Providence Police Department, which maintains a staffed sub-station on College property – at our campus doorstep – that facilitates a timely and effective emergency response.

In light of the shocking violence that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech, I have appointed a special task force to conduct a comprehensive, four-step review of our emergency response plan. In the next 90 days, this team will take the first two steps by analyzing and adapting, as necessary, our current emergency response plan, and will meet with external specialists to assess the revised plan. Step three will be devoted to re-educating the entire campus community about notification procedures and how crisis situations will be managed. The fourth and final step will focus on scheduling simulated exercises to thoroughly test the execution of the plan.  

Fortunately, Providence College is regarded as a friendly, intimate campus community with student support systems that have enabled us to achieve one of the highest student retention rates in the country. While I am confident that we can detect multiple early warning signs of a student in severe distress, the task force also will address the effective integration of all of our student support systems as part of its complete review.

Sadly, we have realized that no workplace or classroom in our free and open society can ever be fully protected from a disturbed individual determined to do harm. But with wise and thorough planning, and ever dependent upon the gracious providence of God, it is our commitment and intention to be as fully prepared as possible to meet such crises if and when they occur.

Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.