In light of the recent school shooting in Florida, Uni’s Associate Director Jeanette Nuckolls wishes to remind students how to protect themselves if an incident like this were to happen at Uni.

At Uni, active threat drills are practiced to reduce risk in these situations.

According to Nuckolls, there are several things that Uni students should do during an active threat.

First, students should run if possible. If a student is unable to run, hiding is the next best option. Here at Uni, students run through drills on how to hide.

“[Active threat drills] are good to have. We act like [school shootings] happen a lot. Even though they do not, they are still very important to do,” says freshman Nathan Walker.

Nuckolls said if students are unable to hide, they should then fight. Fighting includes throwing chairs, books, or anything within reach, including laptops. Once you are in a safe area, calling 911 is very important.

Uni used to have buzzers that would be used in case of an active threat, but after a false alarm on February 14, these will be removed. Nuckolls said that this is because they are redundant. If there is a real active threat, she wants students to run, scream, and call 911 instead of running to the office to press a buzzer.

Nuckolls also thinks it is important to be alert at all times. Students should try and think about where exits are when in a public place so that if something were to happen, it is possible to escape. She also recommends that all Uni students download Illini Alert, as it is free and alerts everyone if something were to happen on campus.