ALICE training scheduled for Southeast Greek students

More than 74 school shootings have been confirmed since the Sandy Hook massacre of 2012 according to CNN.

Southeast Missouri State University sophomore Sean Thomas recently integrated an ALICE training session as a minimum standard, a type of event geared towards upholding their chapters' values and principles. The session will inform participants about the proper procedures of handling potential threats on campus.

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. The program was designed as a response to the events at Columbine in 1999. Since then, ALICE has aimed to educate the masses on what to do during a man-made threat.

According to Thomas, who is a member of the Greek Interfraternity Council at Southeast, the Greek community hasn't participated in a training session similar to this. As leaders of campus organizations, Thomas feels it will be a beneficial event to host for Greek students.

"Greeks always claim to be the leaders of the community, but being a leader means more than having a presence. Being a leader means being able to guide your peers through difficult situations with confidence and proficiency," Thomas said. "This ALICE training will give members of the fraternal system the ability to handle a dangerous situation in a manner which many others would not be able to."

Thomas added that while ALICE training sessions have been held before at Southeast, he feels it is important for the sessions to gain more exposure. The event will be hosted as a minimum standard, an event which Thomas believes will benefit each chapter.

According to Thomas, organizations that hold themselves to higher standards within their campus and community should strive to learn as much as possible about bettering their campus. ALICE training will provide Greeks with the knowledge of how to react if the campus undergoes a lockdown situation.

"I hope the participants both retain the experience of the training and the mindset that their actions affect more than just themselves," Thomas said. "This training brings with it a responsibility for them to protect those around them and step up when they are needed. If the Greeks want to be taken seriously by the community, then we will need to begin taking up these responsibilities instead of behaving with only ourselves in mind."

The event will consist of a training session hosted by an officer from the university's Department of Public Safety. From there, the officer will demonstrate the necessary techniques to defend oneself against an active shooter as well as inform the participants of the proper way to alert anyone in the facility when trouble arises.

"It is impossible to tell how someone will react if a situation comes up," Thomas said. "The most we can do is inform people of how to handle the situation and protect themselves and those around them."

Thomas concluded that while the ALICE training will help strengthen the Greek students' leadership skills, it's still important for students to be aware of how to react to stressful situations that have the potential to happen anywhere.

"To me, the most important aspect of hosting this training is to be prepared for the worst. With violence in schools becoming almost commonplace, people need to realize that these events can happen anywhere," Thomas said. "No one ever said, 'Yeah, we saw that coming a mile away,' after an attack on a school. No matter how safe we think we are, that can all change in a matter of seconds, and if a couple hours worth of training for the most involved groups of men at Southeast is what saves even one life, then it is well worth all of our time to participate."

The Greek ALICE training is set for April 28 in Dempster Hall's Glenn Auditorium.