Pepperdine students experienced gun violence first-hand six years ago in November 2018 when 16 students survived a mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks. Alaina Housley, a first-year student, died along with 12 others, including the shooter.

Alicia Yu, a survivor and suitemate of Housley’s, along with other survivors, detailed the immense trauma and difficulty they had connecting with those around them as a result of the shooting in a Cosmopolitan article.

Jumpstart Site Manager Savanna Davenport, who worked as an administrative coordinator for the Student Care Team at the time of the Borderline mass shooting, witnessed the effect that the event had on the Pepperdine community and the response of multiple departments, including the Counseling Center, Housing and Residence Life, and the Department of Public Safety.

“It depends on the severity of what’s going on,” Davenport said, “But it definitely looks like extending outreach, and it varies of who could be on the team, just depending on the situation, and it really oftentimes is dependent on if the student wants to engage with those supports.”

Davenport, also a student at California State University, Northridge, noted that her classroom doors at CSUN are able to lock from within the class, which make her and her classmates feel safe should an active shooter enter campus. These safety features do not exist at any locations on Pepperdine’s campus.

“From my experience, I haven't engaged in much conversation here with my supervisor or within the division about what the protocol is or what to do,” Davenport said. “So in that sense I would be eager to talk about it and to learn about how to protect myself and maybe students.”

Caldwell, who taught at Pepperdine for 43 years before retiring in 2021, recalled an optional webinar he attended years ago that the university provided for professors about what to do in the event of an active shooter situation.

“I think that faculty members, in particular, need to think more in detail about what the general guidance means to them and their specific circumstances,” Caldwell said. “That ought to be a required addition to the syllabi, because we have required additional information on syllabi concerning the access to students who may have learning challenges, it’s not asking that much to add a paragraph outlining what specifically should be done in the incident of an active shooter.”

Pepperdine’s active shooter protocol and safety measures

Per Pepperdine’s active shooter emergency information webpage, the university recommends students and employees contextually apply the methodology of “Run, Hide, or Fight” depending on the situation they are in.

Nicolle Taylor, vice chair of the Emergency Operations Committee, said Pepperdine’s three-point methodology gives people the flexibility to evaluate their circumstances and apply a course of action for the best chance of survival.

“This idea of ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ is to embolden us in that moment to say ‘I’m getting home tonight,’” Taylor said. “Adopting that mindset allows you to widen your focus, which is narrowed by fear, and to focus your mind on thinking about possibilities and ways to get out.”

In addition to these guidelines, Pepperdine has a system of departments that coordinate together to prevent potential emergencies and to respond to situations should they occur.

The Emergency Operations Committee and Office of Emergency Services engage in preventive and response measures while the Threat Assessment Team and Department of Public Safety focus on the evaluation and execution of emergency responses.

In order to equip the Pepperdine community, Taylor said the Office of Emergency Services and DPS mandate in-person active shooter trainings for new employees, student leaders in Housing and Residence Life, and incoming first-year students. These claims, however, are challenged by resident advisors.

Resident advisors said they receive no active shooter training

Alyssa Medina, a junior political science and history double major and two-year resident advisor, said her R.A. training did not include how to respond to an active shooter.

“[Resident advisors] have gone through earthquake drills, fire drills given our designated areas during those emergencies, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard of a shooting protocol,” Medina said. “I can’t say that I feel 100% confident in [Pepperdine’s Public Safety Department].”

Lidia Qaladh, a junior biology major and two-year residential advisor, said she was concerned with Pepperdine’s lack of formal communication about its active shooter protocol.

“We tend to focus a lot on what to do in case of a fire, in case of a mountain lion, but we never really talk about active shooter situations and no one really checks the emergency preparedness website,” Qaladh said. “We could start implementing [active shooter protocol training] in student leader training for student organizations around campus, we can put signs up around residence halls, we can also do drills in the same way we do fire drills.”

Ethan Barragán, a junior political science major and resident advisor, concurred that resident advisors aren’t given formal training on Pepperdine’s active shooter protocol.

“Active shooter drills are nothing to scoff at and I think we should have them more often.” Barragán said. “God forbid this happens at our school, then we’d all know and kind of be ready for this to happen and not necessarily be reactionary but be preemptive.”

However, Taylor said designing and implementing an active shooter drill is much easier said than done.

“The challenge in, sort of, practice drills for an active shooter situation, we aren’t like an elementary school where we would all do the same thing because we’re in all sorts of different facilities and kinds of settings,” Taylor said. “I think there’s not one type of drill that you could do. I think it’s not as simple as fire drills. However, I don’t think that’s to say that there aren’t opportunities for us to consider how we could expand our discussions and training to include some kind of physical exercise that could give people, perhaps, some context.”

Students share anxiety over gun violence

Medina’s close proximity to gun violence has led her to prepare an action plan with her family should a situation occur.

“Right as we get there it’s like scoping out exits and in case I can’t reach you, like, this is where we’re gonna meet and if something does happen and we have to leave the area, we’ll meet on X and Y block to get in touch with each other,’” Medina said. “I think if we are emphasizing community, the safety and wellbeing of those communities and addressing active shooters and that protocol would just further ensure that safety and that wellbeing of a community, and so I think this is definitely something that should be talked about more on campus and known to our students.”

Despite concern over Pepperdine’s active shooter protocol, Medina said she does feel generally safe on campus.

Barragán said his previous experience with a classmate who made gun threats in high school influences his outlook with gun violence.

“Always being mindful of my surroundings, my exits, those in the room with me, there is a little anxiety that happens,” Barragán said. “It really kind of just boils down to it can happen any time, so you must be ready at all times.”

Connor McKenzie, a junior theater arts major, said he developed anxiety about gun violence due to his high school’s response to the Borderline mass shooting four years ago.

“For that time, it felt like time stood still just in the fact that all the classes were revamped into ‘This is what you do in case of a shooting,’” McKenzie said. “After high school I started doing that a lot more, just subconsciously analyzing the room of how I would get out in case of emergency.

Comparing his high school’s readiness to Pepperdine’s, McKenzie said he was uncertain over whether the university could adequately respond to an active shooter situation.

“Everything was set up so that every classroom could look like it was empty at a moment’s notice. Pepperdine is not equipped to do that,” McKenzie said. “I feel like as somebody who lives on campus, [Pepperdine] emphasize[s] [fire drills], but when it comes to a shooter, they don’t wanna recognize that sort of reality that could happen on campus.”

As no formal drill or exercise currently exists among students and staff, Barrágan said he hopes future training will be implemented.

“I would love to see or have Pepperdine prioritize on the safety of its students by reviewing policy,” Barragán said. “I think it’d really reassure parents, families, the community, and students themselves to know that Pepperdine has these structures in place to keep students, faculty and administration safe.”

Taylor said the Office of Emergency Services and DPS will host a round of refresher active shooter trainings in a few months from now that will be paired with situational awareness and self-defense trainings.