Phi Mu scheduled to host active shooter lecture

Phi Mu is scheduled to host Phi Mu: Run, Fight, Hide with Nicholls State University’s chief of police Craig Jaccuzzo on how students can stay safe in the presence of an active shooter on campus on Sept. 12 at 5 p.m in Peltier Auditorium.

With the rise in annual school shootings witness around the United States, students are highly aware that these shootings take place, but not many of them feel prepared if they happened to find themselves on campus during an active shooting.

Students said they were not sure what they would do if they found themselves in a life or death situation.
“It’s a brutal reality of the type of world we‘re living in today,” Elizabeth Schouest, biology allied health freshman from Lockport, said.

Overall, Nicholls students feel safe on campus, however, Emma Benoit, general studies sophomore from Thibodaux, remembers feeling uneasy during an incident that happened in the spring semester of 2018.

Last May, campus police sent out a potential threat warning to all students. A white male in his mid-twenties had been approaching female students in front of the Donald G. Bollinger Memorial Student Union, making them feel uncomfortable.

This man was not a registered Nicholls student, and was arrested a few days later for an unrelated charge. There is no way of knowing the next step that man might have taken, which is why it is always important to be prepared.

Phi Mu president Danielle Tardo said, “Phi Mu believes that everyone should feel prepared and safe.”

Jaccuzzo said students attending Phi Mu: Run, Fight, Hide will be given examples of what a scene with an active shooting could look like, as well as actions students should take before law enforcement arrives.

“The key to surviving an encounter with an active shooter is highly increased when individuals know what to do,” Jaccuzzo said.