Columbine, Virginia Tech Anniversaries: Reverence, Vigilance, Prevention

As America commemorates the anniversaries of the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech tragedies on the fateful days of April 16 and 20 respectively, we must pause.

The events demand reverence for those who lost their lives and prayer for their families.

Vigilance, especially during these tragic anniversary times, is also in order. An abundance of caution must be the foundation of mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery principles of crisis management.

Columbine: A Snapshot

On April 20, 1999, two students killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before committing suicide. The tragedy sparked a national response on school violence, bullying, character education, crisis planning, warning signs, police tactics, and firearms.

The tragedy continues to be analyzed due to its issues including the following:

• Diversionary tactics
• Propane tanks converted to bombs
• Nearly 100 explosive devices and bombs
• Firearms including a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9mm, and a 9mm Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun.

Columbine, and other incidents, led to a U.S. Secret Service report that shared the following findings relative to pre-attack behavior:

• Incidents of targeted violence at school were rarely sudden, impulsive acts.
• Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
• Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
• There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
• Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern, or indicated a need for help.
• Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.
• Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack.
• Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.
• In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
• Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.

Virginia Tech: A Snapshot

The serenity of Virginia Tech was shattered on April 16, 2007, with 32 students and teachers killed and 17 wounded.

This violence was particularly heart wrenching because it was preventable. But lessons were not learned from the Columbine tragedy and numerous government documents including the following:

• “Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools,” August 1998
• “The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States” by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, May 2002
• “Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities,” May 2003

Despite a student killing two students on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston residence hall, there were no precautions taken by school administration for the possibility that other shootings may occur. It was more than two hours later when an email alert was sent to the entire campus, but no emergency actions, such as lockdown, were implemented. Reprehensibly, the email did not emphasize that two students were killed or that the shooter was still at large.

Virginia Tech was eerily reminiscent of the Columbine tragedy—whose eighth anniversary was to be commemorated in just four days. It would be later discovered that the killer was obsessed with the Columbine killings.

How is it conceivable that two people are killed on a college campus during the anniversary week of Columbine, with a killer at large and no lockdown implemented? 

The failure of leadership is inexcusable as nothing was done to prevent the additional killings and injuries over two hours later.

Also, despite the pleadings of a vigilant professor calling for help for this student who manifested severe, troubling warning signs, school officials failed to provide the proper intervention to protect the campus. 

Not only were there warning signs, but the university had been put on notice at least a year and a half before the incident.

America wake up: character education, warning signs, threat assessment, and crisis planning principles must be the order of the day.

Photos

1. Columbine Victims Collage.

2. Mourners during Virginia Tech's Day of Remembrance honoring the 32 people killed in a mass shooting one year earlier, in Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, 2008. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

3. Listen To Their Cries by Vincent J. Bove book cover.  The book addresses issues presented by Vincent during his presentations throughout the nation immediately following the Columbine tragedy.  It also presents issues on his work as spokesperson for a coalition of victim's families after the Virginia Tech tragedy.  Listen To Their Cries was sponsored for all attendees at many of Vincent's presentations including the following:

• The National Conference on Ethics in America at West Point
• The Southern New Jersey Prosecutor's Safe Schools Conference
• Hackensack Public Schools Professional Development Training
• Allied Barton Safe Schools Seminar for NYC Colleges at the New York Athletic Club
• D.A.R.E. NJ Safe Schools Conference
• New Jersey Education Association Safe Schools Conference
• Bergen County Education Association in partnership with the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association, Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Bergen County Sheriff's Office
• Fairleigh Dickinson University
• The Rebeka Verea Foundation for West New York Public Schools Professional Development 

About the Author

Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America with 300 published works.  Bove is recipient of the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and former confident of the New York Yankees.  He served as spokesperson for a coalition of Virginia Tech tragedy families of victims. His most recent books are Reawakening America and Listen To Their Cries. 

For more information see www.vincentbove.com or twitter@vincentjbove 

Read Vincent's Report

A Crisis of Leadership: A Response to the Virginia Tech Panel Report

Baseball 2021: New York Yankee Confidant and Little League Memories

Despite the challenges of the 2021 baseball season due to the coronavirus, a new season of  Play Ball has begun.

The excitement of the national pastime is here, and affords countless fans like me who cherish the game, the gift of unforgettable memories.

From the time that I was a  boy in the Bronx, sports have always been a part of my life. I played Little League Baseball, stickball, and basketball in the public school yards, ran cross country track for Mount Saint Michael High School, golfed at Van Cortland Golf Course and Mosholu golf courses, and wrestled for John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

During my years as an educator, I was privileged to coach a state championship soccer team for Shaw High School in Louisiana, and also serve as a lifeguard, swimming coach, and lifeguard instructor not only in America but also in the Bahamas. 

And I loved to run, especially from 1978 - 1985 when I jogged about 15 to 25 miles per week.  

In both 1983 and 1984, I ran 100 miles twice, once each year while studying for my master's degrees as fundraisers.  The purpose was to raise money for Saint Michael's Catholic Church on Grand Bahama Island.

I had worked for the parish during two summers in 1982 and 1983 directing their summer youth camp.  The parish needed a new Volkswagen bus to assist picking up youth for the camp, along with assistance for different programs for the poor.  

The bus was also important to pick up people on Sundays throughout the community to attend Mass.  It was also essential for public safety to assist the community, most of whom had no vehicle, with emergency assistance to the doctor's office, or to the hospital.

My running was successful and I was able to purchase the bus and assist the parish programs thanks to the generosity of many family, friends and benefactors.

Coaching Little League Baseball

One of my greatest thrills was coaching my son’s Hackensack Little League baseball team for 7 years. The years of coaching his team provided some of my fondest sports memories.

Coaching is a treasured privilege as it gives one the opportunity to utilize sports in the development of character in the life of the young.

Like it or not, athletes and coaches are role models for our youth and must strive to be examples of character.

Major League Baseball: Lessons for Athletes

Major League Baseball (MLB) has lessons of discipline, teamwork, and perseverance for the upcoming Olympics, and for all who enjoy sports.

Since baseball has always been my favorite sport, I often used lessons from it not only during coaching, but in many of my presentations on leadership.

As a child, love for the game was expressed through card collecting.  The real fans always knew statistics, the lineup of one’s favorite team by heart, and articulating it with each batter at every whiffle ball, stickball, or Little League game.

Baseball became significantly more serious to me after the tragic death of Yankee catcher Thurman Munson.

Soon thereafter, I found myself involved with MLB on a much more profound level as a confidant to the New York Yankee baseball players, and to many players throughout the American league.

In particular, I will always be grateful to legendary former New York Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent.  His appreciation for my work with youth as a Salesian of Don Bosco opened the door for me to work with players on the New York Yankees.  

Bucky's leadership was exemplary not only as a player, but as a person of character. His respect by his teammates, and those in the Yankee organization led me to serving as a confidant to many of the players, and collaborating with them on my first book.

During one summer in particular, I was working at a camp at St. Thomas the Apostle Church on 118th Street in Harlem in 1982 as a youth counselor. In the evening, I took the subway to Yankee Stadium to work with the players, as well as to collaborate with them on my first book titled On the Eighth Day God Created the Yankees.

The experience with inner city kids during the day and with the great names of baseball in the evening, gave me an unforgettable perspective.  I was working with the very poor and the very rich all in the course of the same day.

The lesson from this experience remains with me to this day, money, fame, and prestige does not define the person. It is character – a good heart, appreciating life, and fostering good will toward others – that is paramount in life.

Final Reflections

Yankee pinstripes did not determine a person’s greatness, but the stripes of thoughtfulness, respect, civility, truthfulness, kindness, and charity toward others.

This is what is important in the game of life, and living a life of character is greater than any World Series Championship. 

Many Yankees learned that lesson in the summer of 1979 after the death of their beloved captain.  It is a lesson each of us must live as life is short, and every day we must strive to live a life of character and to do something to help others.

About the Author

Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America with 275 published works.  Bove is recipient of the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and former confident of the New York Yankees.  He served as spokesperson for a coalition of Virginia Tech tragedy families of victims. His most recent books are Reawakening America and Listen To Their Cries. 

For more information see www.vincentbove.com or twitter@vincentjbove 

Photos:

1.  Moshulo Little League, circa 1966, Vincent Bove 2nd from top left.

2. Running for the Money article, Columbus Citizen Journal, Nov. 6, 1984 covered Vincent Bove fund raising running for St. Michael's Parish in the Bahamas.

3. New York Yankee collage, includes photos from Yankee Stadium, the New Orleans Superbowl, and the Columbus Clippers Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, circa early 1980's.

4. St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Harlem, New York, 1982, Vincent Bove with summer campers.

5. Mount Saint Michael freshman track letter, 1968.