2007: A Year In Review
The most high-profile story of the year touching the higher education community was undisputedly the killings at Virginia Tech in April when student Seung-Hui Cho opened fire, leaving 33 people dead, including himself. To date, it is the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history, however, in September the Delaware State University community was also touched by gun violence as a fellow student shot two DSU students. One of the victims later died of her injuries.
The tragic loss of life, which included those of faculty, staff and students, raised many issues concerning campus safety, gun violence and the
confidentiality and availability of student psychiatric services. Since the VT shootings, a federal list of mentally ill people barred from buying guns has doubled; and more colleges and universities, are reviewing, testing and implementing campus emergency alert systems using a variety of methods including text messaging, voice mails and online instant messages.
Less than two weeks before the VT incident, the higher education community and the rest of the country watched as the career of top-rated radio host Don Imus seemed to unravel. Imus referred to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy headed hos” a day after the team lost to Tennessee in the NCAA women’s championship game, igniting outrage even from within the media industry. Imus later apologized to the team and just recently returned to the airwaves after being fired from MSNBC and CBS Radio. All the while, several incidents of racial insensitivity involving students were reported
this year, as a number of student groups held “gangsta” themed parties — mocking Black stereotypes.
