Ever since America was hit in the face with the realities of international and domestic terrorism starting with the tragic morning in September of 2001 or even as far back as Columbine in 1996, our country has had a skeptical outlook on the privacy and safety of our citizens and our country as a whole. Although everyone can agree that safety is one of our utmost priorities, many individuals become defensive when personal benefits and freedoms are at stake. Michael Morris is confident that while we continue to tug back and forth at where exactly the line should be drawn, that college campuses should take full advantage of what they have in hand to keep their students safe.

College campuses have the ability to use student data from their systems to track potential threats, particularly on-campus violence attacks and threats. Morris calls it the “crystal ball”, which colleges can use to work towards campus safety in general. Morris goes on to talk about various points that require discussion, primarily the distinction between intent of safety and intrusion and all the sub-points that fall under that umbrella. In the past years, the Department of Education in cooperation with several universities has clarified policies such as Ferpa to give  universities more leverage when they feel they need to act on situations that cause any concern or threat.

Personally, I fully agree with Morris’s argument primarily because as a college student in an age where society has become numbed to constant breaking news of shootings and acts of domestic terrorism, some action should be taken even if there is controversy and conflict about it. To ensure that our culture does not crumble into pieces, there should and must be an immediate action plan that allows campuses to do what they can in their power to provide safety for all their students. From there, we have the ability to build a new culture that works towards safety among all our citizens.