Friday, October 23, 2015

2nd Shooting in a Week at (near) Tennessee State

One can draw various possible deductions/morals from these incidents, but one that strikes me is that our campuses are not, and cannot be, separate from the larger community and culture.  The problems that affect one affect the other (cue John Donne).  As I've said before here, I'm convinced that many problematic student behaviors that we talk about here are to some extent shaped, or at least exacerbated, by declining financial support for higher education at all levels; the same, I suspect, is true of violence (gun, sexual, substance-abuse-fueled, etc.).  Whatever the solution, it's going to have to be worked out both on and off campus.  After all, young men -- and women -- should not be dying of gun violence anywhere; and young women -- and men -- should not be in danger of sexual violence anywhere; I see no reason to consider current college students as somehow special, or more valuable. 
One person was killed and two others were wounded by gunfire on the campus of Tennessee State University in Nashville late on Thursday, police said.
The shootings, which occurred just before 11 p.m. local time, appeared to have stemmed from a dispute over a dice game in an outdoor courtyard, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said.
The male who died was not enrolled at the school, a university spokeswoman said. Police have not said whether the other individuals involved were students or visiting the campus. . . .
Last week, three people were shot and wounded during a large house party near the Tennessee State University campus.
And, once again, I will admit to a twinge of (very guilty) relief every time a "campus shooting" turns out to have occurred nowhere near a classroom, and way beyond regular school hours.

P.S.  it turns out we have pre-existing tags for guns, guns on campus, and violence on campus.  That's not surprising, but it's depressing, and scary. 


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