It won’t be uncommon for Quinnipiac students to soon see a public safety officer with a gun at their waist. The university announced last Wednesday that armed public pafety officers will be stationed on all three campuses beginning this semester.

Quinnipiac University Executive Vice President and Provost Mark Thompson noted in his school-wide email that the new unit would be referred to as “senior public safety officers” and that the decision was made with response time and security in mind.

“The addition of senior public safety officers will not change the Department of Public Safety’s mission,” Thompson said. “It will only enhance public safety’s ability to provide a safe and secure environment. By having senior public safety officers on all three campuses, response times to incidents requiring an armed officer will be shortened and the responding officer will be intimately familiar with the University.”

Thompson also announced that further security measures would be made in the near future, and training for students and faculty could be found via the university’s Blackboard application. Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan tells News Team 30 that active shooter drills for each campus are being considered, and will likely begin being held alongside the officers deployment.

Though surprising, reaction to the news has been overwhelmingly positive throughout the Quinnipiac community.

“The decision to post armed guards is one that ought to be applauded,” Director of the Quinnipiac graduate journalism program Richard Hanley said. “Quinnipiac has one overriding interest, and that’s the safety of our student body.”

And the students are receptive to the news as well.

“It makes me feel safer, I assume it makes everyone else feel safer,” sophomore Rasheed Haoushine said. “It’s good to know that there are more than just the regular public safety people around.”

The school has not set an exact date as of yet as to when the new officers will debut.

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