Although Carlinville is a long way from Las Vegas, the Blackburn College community, like many communities across the nation, was rocked by the recent tragedy in which a gunman shot more than 50 people and injured hundreds more at a Jason Aldean concert.
The Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Student Success hosted an event to help the campus community address the tragedy. In the special announcement emailed to the campus, students, faculty and staff were encouraged to voice “ . . . concerns, ask questions, or just be present with your Blackburn College family as we come together amidst this tragedy.”
Director of Counseling Services Tim Morenz attended the event. “I think that when I sit with someone who’s dealing with trauma there’s only one piece of advice that I can give, and that is to listen. When we can listen and we can build an attitude of healing. I don’t know that in this situation there are right things to say, but I can tell you there are a lot of wrong things to say, like telling a person to ‘get over it’ or to ‘snap out of it.’ That’s doing nothing. It’s basically telling the person that they’re not right to be feeling the things they’re feeling”, said Morenz.
Many attendees described feeling numb and Morenz discussed ways to cope. He noted that when humans see others suffer, they will suffer too, irrespective of whether the tragedy directly affects them or not. He shared this is because humans are compassionate creatures and can’t help but care for one another.
Director of Student Success, Diversity and Inclusion Eda Watts emphasized that students should not let fear control their lives. “It’s important to feel, but don’t stay there. Don’t stay there for the long term. Feel that pain, but don’t dwell on that pain for the long term. It’s important to know that it’s okay to feel, it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to be angry. And then start going towards a positive place. Start surrounding yourself with positivity,” she said.