Dear Friends:

Every college and university in the United States today must be prepared for an unexpected emergency situation.  Unfortunately, threats exist everywhere and no institution, even a small private college such as Ferrum, can be complacent or think it is immune from such incidents. 

On Tuesday, February 26, 2008, the reality of those issues "hit home" for Ferrum College and Franklin County.  The well-being and security of our students, faculty and staff has always been our highest concern, and on that day, weeks, months and years of emergency planning and preparation by both the College and the County were successfully put into place.  Within a very short time of receiving a report of an armed individual in Ferrum’s largest residence hall the campus was secured.  Students, faculty and staff were sequestered in a protected location on campus while hundreds of law enforcement personnel from the county and throughout the entire region secured the campus buildings and searched for the intruder.  These extraordinary efforts resulted in everyone’s safety at day’s end.

The processes, protocols and practices for emergency responses are essential.  We always hope these drills will never translate into reality, but when they do everything comes down to people, and everyone on campus and in the surrounding community responded in a courageous and outstanding manner. There are simply too many names to list, but we will be forever grateful to these individuals.  We can, however, thank many of the groups, organizations, businesses and institutions who helped out. 

Everyone’s conduct and actions on Tuesday represented our philosophy and practice of outreach that is characterized by caring, connectivity and community.  Ferrum’s motto, "Not Self, But Others" was clearly demonstrated during those difficult hours this week.  We are privileged to continue to be good neighbors of all of the citizens of Franklin County and are always grateful to be able to give back, as well as to be recipients of The Golden Rule.