A recent uptick of gun-related incidents on college campuses coast-to-coast, terrorizing students, scrambling public safety departments into action and sending administrations to the drawing board in terms of student safety.
This trend has varied from “swatting” calls that marred this year’s New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) at Villanova and at other institutions more recently, like at Louisiana State University or Southern University, to shootings on campuses, such as the fatal shooting of political activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University 14 days ago.
Here at Villanova, the student community rallied together, from Orientation staff members to staff and administrators, after the two shooting hoaxes and capture of a fugitive murderer in the Ithan Parking Garage.
For on-campus organizations, like the Student Government Association (SGA), steps are being taken to take a closer look at student safety on campus, and according to SGA President Aleko Zeppos, take a closer look at being ready for the best and for the worst case scenarios.
“Gun violence, it really tears at the heart of every community when it happens on a campus,” Zeppos said. “I want to make sure that campus is as safe as possible for students. We have a lot going on in our lives and we shouldn’t have to worry about our safety on this campus when we go to our classes throughout the day, so it’s definitely a priority of ours and I think we have the right things in place to be ready for the unexpected if anything comes our way moving forward.”
Zeppos also spoke to the appointment of a Public Safety Senator, junior Anthony Garenani, to directly interact with Villanova’s Public Safety Department. While the advent of gun violence is nothing new to a college campus, it has increased drastically in the past 12 years. As per an April 2025 BestColleges article, there have been roughly 385 instances of gunfire on college campuses, leading to the deaths of 111 people and 266 people being injured.
“I think it’s very important [to have] a Senator that’s sole purpose in SGA [is] to really work with public safety,” Zeppos said. “And have safety walks around campus and make sure lighting is good in the blue boxes and the doors and security. [This Senator will] voice the concerns of the students, we’ve been hearing a lot for sure and as far as specifics, I think more will be uncovered as we begin to sit down with student leaders.”
Even with assurances from Public Safety and student-led initiatives like the ones SGA is building, a sense of unease has still crept into students’ lives, whether or not they were here during Orientation or simply reacting to the disheartening events of recent weeks.
“It’s definitely scary and certainly frustrating,” junior Nels Rolf said. “Just because you know that there are things that can be done legislation wise, societally in the way these incidents and guns themselves are talked about, to where change happens and we no longer have to live in a world where this is so commonplace, where people are in a scenario [to be traumatized] and have a pivotal day of their life ruined by a false gun threat, or tragically, be seriously injured or killed by gun violence.”
Despite the uncertainties that can come any day in an age when fatal shootings in the U.S. claim 45,738 lives every year, per Everytown Research & Policy, Villanova students like Rolf are learning to balance concern with confidence in school officials and security.
“I can’t say I’m not scared that something of that nature or [God forbid] even worse is gonna happen, knowing how common and how frustratingly easy it is for someone to perpetrate an act of violence,” Rolf said. “I can’t say I’m not scared that it’s gonna happen to me or someone I care about or to the school but what I can say is I’m confident in the administration and the Public Safety office to do everything in their power to successfully protect us if something were to happen.”
For other students, particular Orientation staff members and other members of the Villanova community present during the four days of Orientation, the feelings from those tragic nearly days still linger in the background.
“Growing up, when I was able to be more knowledgeable, I would always see when school shootings happen at middle schools, at elementary schools, high schools and other universities,” said junior Corey McCall, who served as an Administrative Assistant in this year’s NSOP. “And it was something that I really didn’t think would happen here at Villanova until [the swatting calls] did. And it really put me in a sense of reality, anything can happen at any moment – I would say that it still puts me a little bit on edge when it comes to having and attending big events at campus.”
McCall also suggested that Villanova increase and enhance security measures, particularly within older buildings like Tolentine Hall where doors to classrooms don’t lock from the inside and make barricading a potentially fruitless endeavor.
As the semester continues to develop and unfold, The Villanovan will keep students up-to-date on any of the latest safety or security changes, be it through SGA, Public Safety or Villanova’s administration.
