Virginia Tech Tragedy | April 16, 2007

As services and vigils are held across the country,
we are here to look both backward and forward,
to look both within and without,
to look at the person next to us and at ourselves,
to find our bearings, our place,
we will prevail, but not by moving on and denying our shock,
but by going straight through the effects of this horror and loss together,
we will stay together,
go forward together,
we will never forget our loss.

As the previous few days and nights have illustrated, our students, profession, and nation continue to struggle to comprehend the events of April 16, 2007 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Although our campuses are separated by hundreds of miles, we must not forget that we are all a part of the family of higher education, most especially, our brothers and sisters at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The College Student Personnel Association of New York State (CSPA-NYS) hopes that you and your campus communities may both find and offer, the strength and comfort we need to begin to heal our aching hearts, ease the anxieties of students and increase the feeling of safety and security of our campus communities.

To assist our members, CSPA-NYS has gathered here a number of resources that have been shared recently by a number of different organizations.

From Paperclip Communications

• Talking to Students about the Virginia Tech. Tragedy (pdf)
• Am I Safe on Campus? (A resource to share with students on campus safety) (pdf)
• Is My Child Safe on Campus? (A resource to share with parents on campus safety) (pdf)
• Ways to Come Together as a Community (pdf)
• Putting Emergencies on “ICE” (pdf)
• Communicating Through Online Communities: Social networking posts about the Virginia Tech incident (pdf)
• Reflection and Processing Questions to Use with Students (pdf)
• Media Relations: When Students are the Front Line Sources of Information (pdf)
• School Violence—Myths, Assumptions, and Realities (pdf)
• The Grieving Process (pdf)
• Anxiety and Panic Responses (pdf)
• Bias-Related Incidents: Responding as a Student Leader (pdf)

From ACPA

"College Student Death: Guidance for a Caring Campus" (new publication) The book provides support to university staff in the immediacy of student death and reviews policy design and instructional considerations for faculty. For more information, visit the ACPA site (link).

From Magna Publications an Online Seminar

In the wake of this week's heartbreaking events at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, campus officials and staff members across a broad spectrum of agencies must craft an effective and compassionate response to help students across the country cope with their emotions and concerns. Whenever national tragedy strikes, it can deeply impact college students, who are out in the world as adults for the first time in their lives. Please join us for a panel discussions “The Compassionate Response: Helping Students After a National Tragedy,” including four experts in student affairs, counseling, crisis management and campus security. During the seminar, we will address many issues specific to helping all students succeed in the aftermath of a tragedy. This presentation is available on demand from Monday, April 23 to Friday, April 27. There is no charge for this seminar. To register visit (link).