At 10:45 am this morning (Tuesday, August 20th), I received a message through the Guardian app that there was a “dangerous person with a weapon on the Fairfax campus.” Some people received a detailed email, some people an email and a text, and some people received nothing at all. A few minutes after the threat was sent out, the university sent another message that there was no emergency, not even specifying what the supposed threat was. Fortunately, I was not on the Fairfax campus, but one of my roommates was. I cannot accurately describe the fear I felt for her and everyone on the Fairfax campus. Considering the current epidemic and hysteria of mass shootings in our country, I can only imagine that some will deal with the after-effects of today for the rest of their lives and that our university’s actions could have been far improved in terms of responsiveness, efficacy of communication, and accountability in a productive and respectful manner.
To learn that such a scarring incident was accidental and the spread of information was so inconsistent is very disheartening to students, faculty, and anyone with a connection to this university. While I completely understand the outrage you all feel, this slip up says more about our university as an entity than the system error behind it. Perhaps we suggest improved training and ongoing discussions of this incident and how we can make our university better from it. The best way to ensure this does not happen again is to take this experience and apply it to the future, not to make someone or something a martyr. However, I am appalled that as I write this article it is almost 12 hours after the incident and no formal apology has been issued to students and staff via our emails.
My final thoughts on this, for now, are the following: We lived to see another day and so many people in this nation have gone to their school, or their workplace, or their church, and have not been able to do the same. Personally, I feel a responsibility to those affected by the 262 mass shootings in the United States this year alone to not let this just fade into the past and become a memory. Let’s hold our institution accountable and allow this fear we all felt today drive our education on the current political climate of our country and fuel impassioned efforts to make the change we want to see. I also encourage you to reach out to someone if you are still struggling to come to terms with what happened. Your feelings are valid and you are most definitely never alone. George Mason University must do better for its students. Thank you for giving us the opportunity of education, but recognize and respect the stake we the students hold in your institution.