On Wed., April 16, in conjunction with the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County fire and law enforcement officials, Cornerstone’s campus safety department conducted an emergency preparedness mock disaster training exercise for staff and faculty.

“This is just part of our proactive approach to campus safety that has been going on for well over 5 years,” said Richard Honholt, director of campus safety.

Many faculty and students volunteered to put Mock Disaster together. One of these students was sophomore Ashley DeWitt.

“In high school I was part of Students Against Destructive Decisions, and I was part of a committee that organized a mock car crash for the student body,” said DeWitt. “It hit home with a lot of the students and I just remember feeling like we had really done something to make people think twice. I wanted to be part of that again.”

The process that went into the mock disaster, which started last August, included a total revamping and redesign of Campus Safety’s emergency response plan.  In its beginning, Honholt and his team planned to have 15 or 16 “disasters.”  However, only two that were “most applicable to today’s times” were chosen to be carried out.

The first situation that was dealt with was a chemical spill.  A disgruntled student in Daverman Hall took two potentially hazardous chemicals from an unlocked cupboard in one of the science classrooms.  He then proceeded to go into another classroom, full of students, and smash the bottles on the ground.  Some victims were fatally wounded, whereas others only had minor injuries or were walking around in shock.

In the next “disaster,” there was a shooting.  A student got a hold of keys to a storage room, and took a ladder.  He climbed up to the roof of Bolthouse and began to fire a semi-automatic weapon as students headed between classrooms.

After the exercises were conducted, there was a time to debrief what had occurred.

“We have to remember that the purpose is to learn our strengths and weaknesses,” said Honholt.  “Like everyone else, we have them.”

Many other colleges in the area, such as Aquinas and Calvin, had their own campus safety members present to watch the events unfold.  In addition, Channel 3 News, Wood TV 8, WZZM 13, and The Grand Rapids Press each had reporters on the scene.

Honholt believes that, because of the world we live in today, it is important to have exercises, such as the Mock Disaster in order to be prepared for potentially hazardous situations.

“Twenty years ago, I don’t think anyone thought that sending their children or themselves to school could possibly be their last day on earth due to catastrophic events.  That’s what this is all about.”

Joseph Stowell, president, agreed.

“If we are aware of what a serious event like a real disaster can be on our campus, in terms of the precious lives of our students, faculty and staff, we cannot be too well prepared,” said Stowell.  “I applaud the efforts of the security team to ready themselves to be ready if our lives and well-being are threatened.”

Through the exercise and the debriefing, Honholt said they found out that their system works well.

“The winner [in this situation] is the students, guests, staff, faculty and campus as a whole,” said Honholt. “We’re doing everything we can to use the gifts God gave us to make a better, safer place.”