In the aftermath of the April 1996 fatal shooting of Hopkins undergraduate Rex Chao, the Committee on Campus Violence was established by President Daniel Nathans to examine the University's policies, procedures, and programs and to make recommendations for actions to reduce the threat of campus violence. The Committee, which consisted of fourteen administrators, faculty, and students, with Provost Steven Knapp as chair, met regularly from July through February. In its study of the issue of campus violence, the Committee utilized a variety of sources of information, including publications, survey research, and consultation with experts, some of whom were members of the Committee.

The Committee's charge was to address both student and staff issues, although more of its attention was directed to student concerns than workplace issues. The issues addressed by the Committee included codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures for students and staff, alcohol and substance abuse, firearms, dating violence, harassment and stalking, monitoring and intervention in the case of students and staff who may be potentially dangerous to others, crisis management, and alternative dispute settlement.

As part of its study, the Committee considered the extent of campus and workplace violence at Johns Hopkins in national and relevant institutional contexts. Compared to other universities, the incidence of campus violence of various forms at Johns Hopkins has been very low. In a review of the very few student cases of serious injury or death due to violence, including suicides, over the past ten years, the Committee was unable to identify any common characteristics or to find evidence of any endemic factors that might be associated with campus violence. It is the Committee's conclusion that Johns Hopkins University is simply not immune to the psychopathologies that unfortunately affect some people in our society.

While the Committee believes that it is impossible to eliminate completely the threat of violent incidents or to predict with certainty who may commit a violent act, the Committee proposes a series of policy revisions, education and training initiatives, and interventions designed to minimize the threat of campus violence and to respond to campus crises. The Committee's recommendations call for action of several kinds:

Policy and procedure changes

• a revision to the firearms policy making even more explicit the prohibition against the possession and use of guns on campus and the certainty of sanctions for violations.

• revisions to extant student conduct codes to prohibit threats of harm and persistent, unwanted contact.

• promulgation of student conduct codes in those divisions where formal statements do not exist.

• strengthening the reporting system for disciplinary incidents involving graduate students.

• support for continued aggressive education and counseling efforts in combating alcohol and substance abuse.

• the development of health/wellness brochures for students and the use of orientation week as vehicles for educating about the dangers of firearms and increasing awareness of relationship violence.

• training for appropriate administrative staff, faculty, resident advisors, mental health workers, and health personnel in recognizing the signs of obsessive behaviors and the symptoms of dating violence.

• training for department chairs and supervisors about harassing behavior and how to seek help in addressing problems;

• training for staff in employee and student service offices to ensure their preparation to deal with distressed or potentially violent students.

• professional preparation in risk assessment for the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FASAP) and Homewood Counseling Center staff.

• expanded discussion of harassment in the Counseling Center's letter to faculty and initiation of similar letters in other divisions.

• the adoption of a formal protocol for dealing with students who are potentially dangerous to others.

• the establishment of a risk assessment and prevention team.

• the wider use of letters constituting administrative orders to desist from inappropriate behavior.

• the development of plans for interim actions prior to resolution of formal disciplinary proceedings.

• the early involvement of security in issues of harassing behavior and domestic/dating violence.

• revisions to the student health form to strengthen the ability to identify health and behavior problems.

• adoption of crisis management response protocols in all divisions.

• development of a crisis management plan for the university.

• identification of expertise in post-traumatic stress syndrome for use with trauma victims.

• provision of support for students in case of police involvement.

• development of professional resources for the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) to facilitate the evaluation of potentially dangerous students.

• consideration of establishing a dispute resolution mechanism that might include a panel of trained mediators.

• consideration of appropriate parental involvement in situations of potential violence and communication in the event of campus crises.

• dissemination of the committee report within the Hopkins community.

• sharing these recommendations with other institutions and professional organizations.

• the collection of data about the extent of firearms possession and use within the Hopkins community.

• the collection of baseline data about the prevalence of dating violence within the Hopkins community.

• the development of a research protocol to facilitate study of more intensive health and behavior screening through FASAP.

• the design of a study on the effects of the training, monitoring, and intervention efforts proposed in the report of the Committee on Campus Violence.

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