Cal State Palm Desert Campus Hosting Presentation On Preventing School Shootings

Members of the community are invited to attend an important event at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus on Friday, March 31st 2023  about identifying and correcting existing school vulnerabilities that have been associated with recent school shootings.

“Zero Tolerance: A Different Approach to Preventing School Shootings” is jointly presented by Cal State San Bernardino and George Mason University, and will feature guest speakers Dale Watson, retired FBI Executive Assistant Director,   and Angela C. Pohlen, Executive Director at the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport CT.

The discussion will be moderated by Thomas McWeeney, a public administration faculty member in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration at CSUSB and the director of the college’s Institute for Public Management and Governance.

The event, which will be specifically geared toward teachers, school administrators and staff, parents, and government officials, will showcase a self-assessment approach that has been successfully used by the FBI and other organizations seeking to prevent a tragic event from occurring. The self-assessment approach requires those having the greatest stake in the safety of individual schools to ask the following questions of themselves:

• Is our school able to identify and assist all troubled students?
• Does our school have a process/protocol for collecting/evaluating all relevant information?
• Are our school administrators able to address vulnerabilities and take corrective action?
• Do our school’s security measures address all the physical vulnerabilities at our school?

The event will take place from 7 p-m -8:30 p.m. in the Oliphant Auditorium at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus – 37500 Cook St.

There is no charge for admission, but advanced registration is required by emailing [email protected] (subject line: School Shootings) or by calling (909) 537-8270.

About PDC: The CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a doctorate in educational leadership, teaching credentials and certificates. Serving more than 2,200 students, it is the Coachella Valley’s four-year public university and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.

For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the Office of Strategic Communication at [email protected] or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107, or visit the PDC website at www.csusb.edu/pdc.

Cal State University campus, Palm Desert CA file photo March 2023.

Photo courtesy of Cal State Univ Palm Desert CA campus, via email from Mike Singer at the school’s Office of Strategic Communication