A Statement From the President

Dear R-MWC Community –

Each of us is impacted in some way by the Virginia Tech tragedy, and as we struggle to comprehend and mourn, it’s important to know that the College places the highest priority on protecting our students and maintaining a safe environment.

Our safety and security department is charged with the important responsibility of protecting the well-being of many students, faculty, staff, and visitors to our college community. Campus leaders must constantly examine and strengthen the training they provide to their security officers and staff to ensure that they are doing all they can to protect the precious lives entrusted to them.

While tragic, the incident at Virginia Tech can provide an opportunity for campus safety and security departments and campus administrators to examine their policies and procedures and, if necessary, to make changes to enhance the protection they provide against acts of violence on our campuses. While we regularly work to review and update our crisis plan during the year and are confident in our security measures, we are currently reviewing and examining our plan in light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

Please be assured that the safety of our campus community is our utmost priority and we will continue to do what is necessary to further enhance the safety of our community.

The following security measures are among those currently in place:

• We have a Critical Incident Management Team in place that can be adapted to respond to the specific type of crisis at hand.
• We have a Crisis Communications Plan that we will utilize to communicate information and instructions to faculty, staff, students, parents, and the general community.
• All Residence Halls are locked 24/7 and can only be accessed with a valid access card.
• Security and Residence Life staff members are on duty 24/7.
• We have an on-call Chaplain, Residence Life and Counseling Center staff person.
• We have 4 blue light Emergency Phones in various campus locations and all residence halls have yellow call boxes that are connected to the Switchboard.
• All residence halls, academic buildings and other student houses are all wired directly to the Switchboard for fire detection.
• All Crisis Management Team members have cell phones and all Residence Life Staff have cell phones and a communication system to pass instructions quickly.
• We have a strong, effective relationship with the local law enforcement and are in constant contact during emergency situations.
• Our security team conducts constant patrols of the campus grounds and buildings.

Student awareness is an important part of the security process. By reporting unusual or suspicious behavior, students, faculty and staff can provide key information to the security staff and to local police.

A meeting with campus security, local police and students is forthcoming.

As we mourn the tragic loss of life and innocence at Virginia Tech, the Randolph-Macon Woman’s College community sends our prayers, support and thoughts to the entire Virginia Tech family.

Thank you.

Ginger Worden
Interim President