Campuses are no place for weapons

George L. Hanbury II, President and CEO of Nova Southeastern University.

Our nation’s schools and universities are places of learning and discovery where everyone–students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors–should always feel safe.

As president of Nova Southeastern University, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of 23,000 students, 5,000 employees and the thousands of visitors who come to our campuses across Florida, Puerto Rico and Colorado every year. I take this responsibility seriously, whether it’s keeping our campuses safe from acts of violence or a pandemic.

Multiple mass shootings have demonstrated that we cannot make every part of our society impervious to attack. However, this does not mean that we do nothing. It is our duty to implement measures that work and will help keep people safe with a sense of belonging throughout the Shark Nation. Carrying any gun or weapon on NSU’s properties is impermissible—concealed or not.

As a private institution, NSU reserves the right to govern our campuses and sites accordingly for the protection and preservation of the health, safety and welfare of all those who visit our campuses. As such, it is my belief that the single best way to keep our community safe is to not permit weapons of any kind in any of our properties or spaces unless they are carried by a trained law enforcement officer.

In addition to deliberate acts of violence, accidents can occur if people lack proper training in firearm safety. If an untrained armed bystander hears gunshots and rushes into a situation, what do they do? Will they have the facts and the judgment to know how to react in a split second, or know which person with a weapon is the perpetrator vs. another innocent responder? If law enforcement responds and sees multiple people with guns drawn, how do they determine who the aggressor is?

NSU has numerous safety protocols and systems in place across our campuses to make our learning environments as safe as possible, including:

• NSU Alert system (text, phone, email), sign up for alerts here: nova.edu/emergency/notification/registration-process.html.
• SaferWatch app for iPhone and Android for localized safety alerts: saferwatchapp.com/nsu.
• 65 NSU campus safety professionals carrying out our community policing mission across our campuses in Florida, Puerto Rico and Denver.
• 2,000 cameras, 230 Blue Light Phones, 180 duress buttons and an intruder lock program for university lock down measures throughout all campuses.
• Six, soon to be eight, full-time police officers patrolling the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus 24 hours a day.
• SharkCard access for residence halls as well as many buildings and other access points.
• NSU has developed three early intervention models to enhance campus safety through the CARE Team, Student Behavioral Concerns Committee and the Comprehensive Threat Assessment Team—these teams promote individual student well-being and success while prioritizing community safety.

As of July 31, the U.S. has already experienced bloodshed in more than 419 mass shootings in 2023. That averages out to about two per day. Such statistics are tragically devastating and unacceptable, and further demonstrate and support why, to prevent further bloodshed in this country, we do not allow any weapons on our campuses.