After a gunman killed 33 people at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and another killed six at Northern Illinois University, campus safety came to the forefront of college administrators’ minds.

Western officials say the university is doing all it can to make students safe. Those efforts include projects completed over the summer.

President Gary Ransdell said administrators set aside $61,000 for a crisis communication system.

Recently, administrators’ primary focus has been finishing Western’s emergency communications system project. The project began three years before the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois but was re-evaluated in light of the incidents, the Herald previously reported.

So far, Western has set up and tested mass text messaging and e-mail systems and an outdoor speaker warning system, said Richard Kirchmeyer, vice president for information technology.

The warning system, which consists of speakers on top of Cherry and Keen Halls and Downing University Center, allows police to broadcast pre-recorded messages across campus, said Major Mike Wallace, campus police public information officer.

In a test of Western’s text-messaging and e-mail warning system on Feb. 8, 11,676 subscribers received text messages in an average time of 15 minutes, the Herald previously reported.

A project to replace outdated lights and properly light all major walkways is almost complete, said John Osborne, vice president of campus services and facilities.

Brian Kuster, director of Housing and Residence Life, said the number of cameras in common areas and the amount of educational material on safety for students have also been enhanced.

As halls are being renovated, the fire alarms and sprinklers have been updated to prevent fires, Kuster said.

In 2003, Ransdell formed a “safety task force” to assess how to make students safer after the death of Pellville freshman Melissa “Katie” Autry, Kuster said.

Autry died after she was raped, sodomized and set on fire in her dorm room, the Herald previously reported.

Ransdell said Autry’s death wasn’t a result of any safety concerns, but it inspired administrators to make sure Western is as safe as possible.

Kuster said that every dorm now has a 24-hour front desk operation, and every student must show a Western ID to get in residence halls.

The Counseling and Testing Center works with departments such as HRL to help them better detect people who could become safety threats, said Brian Van Brunt, the center’s director.

Several members of the center’s staff received certification as aggression management trainers, a program which offers training to manage at-risk situations, he said.

The center provides care to those who are referred to or seek help at Counseling and Testing offices, he said.

Oak Grove sophomore Paul Beckwith said he feels safe on campus because campus police response times are fast.

Louisville senior Jorian Seay said she never feels unsafe, but thinks that sometimes people wait until a tragedy happens to fix safety concerns.

Howard Bailey, vice president of student affairs, said helping students, faculty and staff who are in distress is the key to prevent a tragedy similar to the Virginia Tech shooting.

“An alarm tells you something happened; our primary point is to keep things from occurring,” he said.

Reach Michelle Day at news@chherald.com.