Public Safety emergency response training assembly to be held tomorrow 

David Champ, commander of Public Safety at Bob Jones University, will speak at a Public Safety assembly for all students Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Founder’s Memorial Amphitorium.  

Although the assembly comes on the heels of last week’s incident, when an armed suspect was arrested after passing near the BJU campus, it had been planned before the arrest occurred. Its purpose is to help students prepare for a similar emergency in the future and to make students aware of other areas of safety concerns. 

David Champ has worked as BJU’s Public Safety commander since 2012. Photo: Derek Eckenroth

During the assembly, Champ will show the 20-minute video, Shots Fired on Campus, which explains what Public Safety wants students to do if there is an active shooter incident on campus. Champ said the idea is to have a plan that can be adapted to fit any situation, citing the response of New York City’s leaders to the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. “They probably had never prepared a plan for commercial airlines flying into the World Trade Towers,” Champ said. “They had a plan in place, and they took their principles and their training, and they adapted it to that situation.” 

During the assembly, Champ will also provide a QR code for students to sign up for the RAVE emergency notification system. The RAVE system sends phone calls, emails, and text messages to alert students and faculty to emergencies on campus. “We saw that last fall…that only 22% of the students are enrolled in the RAVE system, and that’s concerning. And this gives us an opportunity to address that.” 

While Public Safety is doing their best to protect students, Champ realizes that safety is ultimately a gift from God. “The writer of Proverbs tells us that ‘The horses are prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord,’” Champ said, referencing Prov. 21:31.