BY CAROLINE BUNNELL
In a world where mass shootings are becoming far too frequent like the recent tragedy at the University of Virginia, officials hope the ALICE program can bring a sense of preparedness and confidence to people.
ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, which are the steps that should be taken if someone is in an active shooter situation.
On Nov. 14, three University of Virginia football players were killed, and two others were wounded after an ex-football player shot them on a school bus.
The ALICE program can show students and faculty what to do if it happens to them.
“It made us realize that this is something that could really happen and taught us how to prepare for that if it were to ever happen to us,” Stonehill student Amy McCaron said about her participation in the ALICE program.
McCaron participated in the program during the fall semester of her freshman year before it got put on hold because of the pandemic.
Prior to Covid, Stonehill required students and faculty to participate in the safety training.
“Interruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the program’s postponement,” Stonehill Police Chief Rochelle Ryan said.
At the State of the Hill on Nov. 7, students were told the program will be making its return to campus, most likely in Spring 2023.
More than 18.9 million people have been trained through the ALICE program in active shooter safety, the ALICE training website said. There have been 68 school shootings in 2022, with 15 of them being on college campuses.
ALICE takes a different approach to active-shooter safety meaning that it teaches its participants more proactive methods, rather than the traditional lockdown-only policy.
Ryan said that the program will be facilitated by the Campus Police Department. There will also be other community members who will assist in running the program.
The program will be offered to faculty, staff, and students, with an optional training.
“The training consists of a classroom session and simulation,” Ryan said.
McCaron said that students would go to Merkert-Tracy and watch informational videos, then participated in scenarios where they had to practice how to protect themselves in a classroom.
“We had to use whatever we could to barricade the door and hide somewhere while an officer from campo pretended to be a school shooter and once, he got through the door that we had barricaded, he had a nerf gun type thing that he would shoot toward us,” McCaron said.
McCaron praised her experience with the program and said that the program was conducted very well.
“This is a real thing that we have all clearly seen happen way too many times all over the US and could happen to anyone anywhere which is why this program was good because it helps prepare students for if there were to ever been an active shooter around them. I think active shooter training is very important for everyone,” McCaron said.