After high-profile shootings, Middlesex students urge greater communal safety

Polling suggests that students want increased attention to bigotry and bullying.

Lock and barricade the doors. Hide away from windows. Stay quiet. Worst case scenario, fight and disarm. 

Nearly every American citizen in school has undergone this procedure, implemented in case of the devastating—but not entirely improbable—threat of an active shooter on campus. Starting from as early as kindergarten, the protocol is reinforced each year alongside standard fire drills. 

Regardless of personal views on the Second Amendment or public policy, gun violence is an undeniable crisis in the United States, and it shows no signs of abating. 

In mid-December, two major shootings shook the US and Australia: the Brown University and Bondi Beach shootings, occurring just one day apart on December 13 and 14, respectively. 

The shooting at Brown resulted in two student deaths and nine injuries, leaving one other person in critical condition. The Bondi Beach incident was specifically targeted against a Jewish community gathered in celebration of Hanukkah, with around a thousand attendees. Fifteen were killed, including a ten-year old girl. 

These two incidents are horrifying, but not surprising. There are anywhere between 30-90 school shootings a year in the US, and that number continues to rise. With the global resurgence of antisemitism, terrorist attacks against Jewish populations are becoming more frequent. The number of casualties at Bondi Beach was particularly shocking.  

While these statistics paint a grim picture, no community—however isolated or privileged—can assume immunity from this crisis.

Middlesex is often referred to as “The Bubble”: Safe, privileged, naive. And while undoubtedly students here are largely sheltered from the worst of political instability both domestically and internationally, that does not mean that we are exempt from the ramifications of this degree of violence.

To better understand student perspectives, I ran a campus poll evaluating student attitudes towards gun violence, personal safety, and school policy. The results were jarring, revealing a serious gap between students and administrative priorities. 

23% of respondents reported that following the events of Bondi Beach and Brown University, they feel less safe on campus. A further 8% responded that their religious, cultural, or ethnic identity diminish their level of safety on campus, and 60% responded that the school needs new policies to improve student welfare, both in physical and social safety. 

One might think the new gatehouse and security system would alleviate these concerns, yet only 28% of students felt as though the system was an effective method of mitigating danger on campus. 

This skepticism largely seems to stem from the fact that most MX students do not find danger as a solely external issue, but also, if not more so, internal. Of the 60% who called for improved safety policies, 31% specified that safety measures should be implemented to combat hate, bigotry, and bullying. 

Considering the numerous disciplinary meetings, suspensions, and conversations concerning such incidents, it is unsurprising that racism, antisemitism, homophobia, sexism, and other forms of hatred on campus remain on the front of many students' minds.

Although general campus safety is undoubtedly important—especially in the wake of the Brown shooting, which shattered the assumption that elite educational institutions are somehow protected from this uniquely American crisis—perhaps it is time to redirect some attention and resources towards student welfare.

If Middlesex is to maintain our self-donned name of “The Bubble,” safety must be generated both internally and externally. The question is not whether we can prevent every possible threat, but whether we are doing everything within our power to create a campus where all students feel secure, both physically and psychologically.

image by: Politico

Beatrix Gareau ‘26