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One year after campus shooting, new UNC-Chapel Hill faculty active shooter training is optional

Law enforcement and first responders respond to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.
Hannah Schoenbaum
/
AP Photo
Law enforcement and first responders respond to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.

One year ago Wednesday, an armed shooter killed a professor at UNC Chapel Hill. Since then, the university has changed how it trains for an active shooter.

When the shooting happened, UNC's campus was on lockdown for three hours.

While some students barricaded quietly in their classrooms, others had professors still teaching lessons. This response is one of many addressed in a new training the university released for faculty.

It takes about 25 minutes and is entirely online. For now, it's also optional.

Meg Zomorodi is a nursing professor who took the training two weeks before school started. She believes it should be mandatory for all faculty.

“If there’s something that with your own life circumstances is additionally triggering for you, then I think there’s an exception to that requirement," she said, "But it’s hard for me to understand how somebody might not want to take it when it’s preparing you for something that could literally be life and death.”

Any training requirements have to be mandated by the provost office.

Faculty are being "strongly encouraged" to complete it.