Following tragedies at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois universities, Texas A&M University administrators are trying to drill a new mantra into the heads of everyone on campus.

Tell somebody.

Perhaps someone witnessed a student on campus who was yelling at a professor. Or maybe that person saw someone -- faculty, staff or student -- being disruptive.

There are hundreds of scenarios that could threaten the safety of Aggieland, said Cynthia Hernandez, special assistant to the vice president for student affairs and member of a newly created crisis team. The important thing, she said, is that they are reported.

"The Interim Special Situations Team is making sure people are communicating about behaviors that might be disruptive or that people might find just a little bit concerning, if you will," Hernandez said. "I'd definitely say the incidents at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois have prompted the university to really look at formalizing those lines of communication."

This week, Texas A&M announced the creation of the team to address and respond to potential problems and to improve communication across the campus about such incidents .

Similar teams are forming across the country in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois. Hernandez said A&M's team is one of the only groups that includes a review of suspicious behavior from faculty and staff members.

At A&M, the nine-person team -- given an "interim" label because its structure still is evolving, Hernandez said -- meets regularly but can be convened at any time by any member to respond to situations. Members were selected for their expertise but are representative of a cross-section of the university, which enhances communication, Hernandez said.

Though the team has been meeting since February, it was just this week that A&M released three hot-line numbers -- one each for faculty, students and staff -- for people to report suspicious or disruptive behavior on campus.

Concerns are being directed to three A&M administrators: Director of Student Life Carol Binzer, Associate Dean of Faculties Antonio Cepeda-Benito and Associate Director of Human Resources Anna Satterfield. They are taking reports on students, faculty and staff, respectively.

"I think that the special situations team goes with this campaign of 'tell somebody,'" Hernandez said, explaining that the program started in the public schools. "It might be that the matter is investigated and resolved pretty quickly and easily. Or maybe it's something that ends up really helping that student, faculty or staff member."

There is no standard process for investigating the reports, Hernandez said, explaining that each would be dealt with individually. As with any reporting system, she said, sanctions could result if officials determine there has been a violation of university rules.

As of Thursday, no reports had been filed online, Hernandez said. It was unclear whether any had been made by phone.

Binzer said she routinely gets calls about student issues and concerns from students, faculty, staff and parents because of her role at A&M. But she noted that she had not received anything specifically related to a student's concerning behavior since the hot lines were launched.

"We look forward to the word getting out broadly about what to do if there is a student or students' behavior about which someone is concerned, since those reports or intuitions are sometimes pieces of a puzzle that allow us to offer support to a student who may be struggling for one reason or another in true Aggie fashion," Binzer said.

Both Cepeda-Benito and Satterfield referred questions about the data to Hernandez.

Hernandez said the trio regularly hears from concerned callers simply because of the nature of their jobs. That makes it hard to tell if any calls were prompted by the recent announcement about the team and the hot lines, she said.

Hernandez said the importance of communication was realized after the massacre at Virginia Tech more than a year ago. It was only after the tragedy that university officials discovered that various people on campus had been concerned about gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who killed himself after killing dozens of others on campus over a two-hour period.

"Pockets of the university had heard about some disturbing behavior concerning Mr. Cho, but they weren't sharing that information," Hernandez said. "Looking at an individual with one incident is a lot different than looking at that individual with several incidents across campus."

• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.

Comments

(Requires free registration.)

11 comment(s) found!

Posted by: George Orwell On: 6/29/2008

Comment Title: Ridiculous
1982.

---

Posted by: On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title:
I can think of a certain associate dean with a bad temper, though not really any threat. I wonder if he gets a call placed about him. This system has good intentions but could so easily become a retaliation mechanism, and subject to overreaction of the moment. Does someone have to get hauled before these people on the word of one person who may not be honest? Is refusal to get counseled going to get people fired or expelled?

---

Posted by: Rudy On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: BS
BS

---

Posted by: Class of '04 On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: Next thing, we'll have to start taking our shoes off to get into the MSC
I hope this doesn't make us all spies. Stalin and Lenin sent people to Soviet prison camps in Siberia after neighbors and friends turned one another in.

---

Posted by: Catherine On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: But what if?
But what if it actually works? What if this team is able to encourage a student (or faculty or staff member) to get counseling or other help at a critical time? Would you suggest doing nothing at all? I think this could work in the same way that leads work for detectives - not all of them turn out to be what you're looking for, but you'd rather have a bunch of "false positives" than nothing to work with at all.

---

Posted by: david mervish On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: little to gain
this group will accomplish little while opening aTm up to huge liabilities. if someone goes on a rampage and it is found out after the fact that this person was reported to the special situations team but they took no action, there will be lawsuits filed in a split second. I also agree with the other posters in that some student, faculty,or staff will have their reputation ruined because they are being "investigated" by the special situations team because as we all know, it's not the validity of the complaint but the seriousness of the charge that is important. One more point, how will the laws of political correctness be used in this committee? Here is how I see it going: "Oh we can't look into a complaint on this person, they might accuse the university of profiling"

---

Posted by: '05 On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: Uh, oh.
Odd behavior at Texas A&M. NO! No one sits at football games, walks on grass and cadets sleep on the floor so a dog can have their bunk. Aggies wander around saying "hulabaloo, canek, canek" and attack SMU cheerleaders with sabers. Somehow, this does not seem well thought out.

---

Posted by: Dude On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: Bad Idea
What a silly idea suddenly all expressions of normal human emotion become 'suspect'. Ooh someone is angry he must be the next serial killer. Give me a break, trust me the people you have to worry about dont express their anger, they are sitting alone in a room oiling their AR-15. The opposite is in fact the solution, just be kind and good to everyone. The right word kind word at the right time can do wonders. Life isnt 100% secure, creating a culture of fear and snitching will just create what these people fear.

---

Posted by: Tim Smith On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: Asking untrained individuals is a mistake
I agree with the witch hunt comment below. Relying on untrained individuals to identify suspicious behavior as part of a security system is a mistake. There will be far too many false positives reported for this system to be useful.

---

Posted by: Brian On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: Numer? Address
There ARE numbers... and there ARE email addresses... But we're not gonna TELL you what they are!!!

---

Posted by: On: 6/20/2008

Comment Title: Witch Hunt ?
Anyone ever hear of the Salem Witch trials? She's a witch!! She's a witch!!! Burn her!!! Security is one thing but leaving it up to the general public to determine what is abnormal is dangerous. If you could count on reason it would be fine. But the potential for abuse from someone in authority on down is great.

---