UCLA students were understandably shaken up on Wednesday when one of their professors, William Klug, was killed in an apparent murder-suicide. Composing themselves and grieving were probably the two biggest things they were focused on. However, some professors didn’t think the tragedy was enough to reschedule finals.
Several tweets from UCLA let the world in on what was happening on campus. Naturally, several professors simply rescheduled the finals. One professor acknowledged that the students wouldn’t be in the mindset to take the final and gave the students a take home final instead.
Other professors took a different and less wise route.
The Daily Bruin reported that professor Vivian Lew instructed her students to leave their shelter and find an available computer to take their scheduled final. Lew was not the only professor to attempt to have students take their finals on time. Luckily, the school canceled all finals later that day.
The questionability of the professors’ practices extended far beyond how they handled their finals. Another professor reportedly just closed the blinds when she was told to lockdown the classroom so that she could continue teaching. Yes, education is important, but lecturing with lights and a microphone could have alerted a shooter to an entire classroom full of very vulnerable students.
One French and global studies student even reported that her professor made her continue with an in-class presentation when reports of the gunman came in. “I had to continue a presentation while (an active shooter situation) was going on,” student Lara Jhaveri told the Daily Bruin. “I was on the verge of tears.”
In our lifetimes, we have counted more reports of school shootings than anyone would like to. There were 64 school shootings in 2015 alone. We know the severity of these situations and how many lives can be lost. Every precaution should be taking to keep a classroom safe if there is an active shooter on campus.
Even after the situation is over, students deserve the time to grieve in the wake of a death in their community. We go to school and think we will be safe there. When that safety is not guaranteed, we need time to compose ourselves again—without the stress of studying for a final.