BALTIMORE — Morgan State University's Center for Urban Violence and Crime Reduction is leading a discussion on what can be done to reduce gun violence on college campuses.
This is part of a two day conference being held in downtown Baltimore.
Gun shots rang out on Morgan State University's campus during homecoming back in October of 2023.
Five people, including four students were shot.
"I was nearby the shooting when it occurred. You know, at the moment, it was very frightening. Nobody knew where the shots were coming from," said Jared Patterson, a Morgan State University senior.
Patterson is one of the panelists for the inaugural conference hosted by Morgan State University's Center for Urban Violence and Crime reduction.
"The student perspective is so important, seeing how this impacts our education. So, this is definitely an issue that is at the forefront," said Patterson.
College gun violence has been a growing concern.
According to Morgan State University, between 2013 and 2023, there were over 300 instances of gunfire on college campuses.
Dr. Von E. Nebbitt is the Director of the Center for Urban Violence and Crime Reduction.
He was asked by the president of Morgan State University to study this issue.
"There's really no research, and we didn't know much about shootings on college campuses, and so I was like wow, this is a really rich opportunity for Morgan to intellectually lead and develop an area of research," said Dr. Nebbitt.
Presidents from colleges from all across the country were invited to come to the two day conference. The goal is to discuss what can be done to prevent more shootings from occurring.
"We want to start this discussion. We want to bring this to the forefront," said Dr. Nebbitt.
They discussed everything from prevention strategies, emergency response, policy development and mental health.
"We know there's not one thing that causes this type of behavior. And we're wanting to come out of here, helping people understand that," said Dr. Anna Mcphatter, the founding dean of social work at Morgan State University.
