Message from Chancellor Cantor on tragedy at NIU

Message from Chancellor Cantor on tragedy at NIUFebruary 15, 2008SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

Dear Campus Community Members:

Today, our thoughts are with the students, faculty, staff and families of Northern Illinois University as they deal with the terrible tragedy that has taken members of their community from them. This morning, I reached out on behalf of Syracuse University to NIU President John Peters to express our deepest condolences and offer our support as his campus seeks to grasp the profoundly painful impact of yesterday’s events.

At SU, we take the safety of our campus very seriously, and the NIU incident again reminds us of the importance of campus safety and security. SU has extensive immediate emergency response protocols in place — directed by our Department of Public Safety in partnership with the Syracuse Police Department. We also have a wide array of ways to communicate with the campus in the event of a crisis. I have asked Department of Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto to provide an update to the campus on those measures and offer guidelines on what to do if a similar incident occurred on our campus.

If anyone — students, faculty, staff — is looking for support as we try to understand the tragedy at NIU, you can find it through a range of counseling services available from the Counseling Center (443-4715), the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (443-1087) and Hendricks Chapel (443-2901).

Let us keep the NIU community in our hearts and minds today and in the coming days as we reflect on our common bonds of humanity.

Cordially,

Nancy Cantor