’07 Va. Tech tragedy prompts YSU program
YOUNGSTOWN — As she listened to reports of the shooting deaths of 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, Toni Notaro, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Counseling at Youngstown State University, wondered whether she would have been able to prevent something similar from occurring at YSU.
Her answer was “no,” and she said many of her teaching colleagues agreed they had similar misgivings.
The killings took place in two separate attacks by one individual, a senior student, about two hours apart, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, known as Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va.
Notaro, also administrative director of the Mahoning County Health Board, said the staff at the mental health board further wondered if the community at large was prepared to deal with a tragedy of that magnitude.
The result of the self-evaluation was creation of the Mental Health Training, Response & Awareness on Campus program, a joint venture between YSU and the county mental health board. M-TRAC is funded by a two-year, $50,000 grant from the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation.
Read the full story in Monday’s Vindicator and on vindy.com