Chancellor's Response to MCC-Penn Valley Assault

Dear MCC Students and Colleagues,

Yesterday, MCC was the victim of one random act of violence but was the benefactor of many random acts of courage and kindness. By now, I am sure you have seen the news accounts and heard the rumor mill concerning the assault that occurred on the Penn Valley Campus.

Let me first say that from all the information I have, Dean Dimmit is expected to make a full recovery and for that, I am most thankful. I will look forward to welcoming him back on campus soon. In the mean time, please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Secondly, I want to say how proud I am of our employees and students who showed heroic courage and compassion during yesterday’s incident. From people who put their personal safety at risk to personnel who responded from other MCC campuses, please accept my sincere thanks for what you did.

While I am grateful that the measures we had in place minimized the consequences of the unfortunate incident, I am determined to learn what we can from this situation and take appropriate action to enhance our security and post-incident procedures. From my 30-years experience in law enforcement I have learned that real-life incidents will always test and reveal adjustments and adaptations that need to be added to operational plans and procedures. I have already spoken with the Director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol who oversees the Governor’s Security Detail, as well as federal agents investigating the assailant, and we will exchange information and observations from this incident.

Along with other measures, we will review our timetable for converting the MCC Public Safety Department into a state certified campus police department. I think yesterday’s incident clearly shows that our campuses are no different than any other public venue where a random crime can occur so like any other public venue, our students and employees should have the benefit of police protection specifically trained to operate in the open atmosphere of an academic institution.

We will review MCC’s critical incident communication plan, classroom security issues, and post-incident response plans. We will also revisit the operations of our Behavioral Intervention Teams to determine if there is anything we can do to enhance their effectiveness. Yesterday, I attended one of two informational briefings for MCC employees conducted at the Penn Valley Campus and received good input, concerns, and suggestions.

Effective immediately, I am expanding the effort for gathering your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions relating to campus security. I am asking anyone who has input to please email that input to Denise Prather of the Chancellor’s Office at Denise.Prather@mcckc.edu. I will personally ensure all input will be examined as I work with the review team.I want to remind all of the MCC community, employees and students that we have counseling available at the Penn Valley Campus. Additional counselors are also available at Penn Valley through our new partnership with Truman Medical Center. Employees may also access counseling through the Employee Assistance Program. I encourage all students and employees to avail themselves of these services, if they are experiencing any distress from this incident. As someone who has been through a number of these incidences, distress, fear, and anxiety is a perfectly normal reaction that can be quickly mitigated with professional help.

Let me close by saying, this is a time for us all to pull together and ensure that we continue to carry out our important mission of preparing students, serving our communities, and creating opportunities. MCC will not be negatively defined by this event, but will be defined by our ability to come together as one MCC transcending this event. We will not become an armed encampment hiding behind metal detectors but will be a beacon of education and instruction secured by an ongoing commitment to the best processes in prevention, intervention, response, and mitigation. Our campuses are no less safe than any other public venue. Yesterday’s incident was the first of its kind in MCC’s 95-year history and we need to keep that in perspective as we emotionally process this event.

We are One MCC,
Mark