Dear Alumni and Friends
As you are aware, the peace and harmony of our campus was shattered by an unprecedented and senseless shooting incident on September 17 that injured five of our students, all basketball players. Throughout these difficult days, our thoughts and prayers have been focused on the recovery of our student athletes and the emotional healing of our entire campus community.
Four of our students have been released from the hospital; one who remains hospitalized has been upgraded from critical to serious condition. Our students, faculty and staff have comforted and supported each other, demonstrating Duquesne’s spirit of family and community under the most trying of circumstances. Our fundamental values and genuine concern for one another have provided us with consolation in a time of suffering.
The process of physical and emotional recovery will go on for some time. We persist in our prayers for the health of our student athletes, and continue to offer counseling for members of our campus community still coping with distress. At the same time, we are resolved to move forward.
Our campus has long been known as safe and secure, and remains so today. Clearly, though, we are not immune from the irrational violence that pervades much of society beyond our borders. We have taken immediate action to enhance campus security—upgrading existing surveillance cameras, hiring more certified police officers and security guards, adding more bicycle and parking garage patrols, and purchasing metal detectors for use at various campus events. Additionally, I have convened a committee to examine overall campus security and make recommendations for possible enhancements to Duquesne’s already comprehensive public safety efforts.
We will continue to review security policies and procedures to make further improvements, without unnecessarily restricting our students’ freedoms. The events of recent days have proven, beyond any doubt, that the overwhelming majority of our students are responsible young men and women who share our high moral and ethical standards and live by them each day. You can be proud of the character and strength our students have displayed throughout this traumatic time.
Updated details on our response to this tragedy can be found at www.newsroom.duq.edu.
Many of you have called or sent messages of support. We are grateful for your kindness, and ask for your continued prayers and encouragement as we move forward. Duquesne is a community of learning and faith based on the Bluff but influencing the world through the lives of our alumni. We stand together as a family in times of hardship as well as joy, and trust in the Spirit Who Gives Life. Duquesne University will emerge from this tragedy as an even stronger university.
Sincerely,
Charles J. Dougherty, Ph.D.
President
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