April 16, 2011, marked the 4^th Anniversary of the tragic shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech. In late March, the Department of Education fined Virginia Tech for what it perceives to have been Clery Act violations.

Professor Lake was quoted in a feature story published on April 15, 2011. The story has been picked up by a number of news outlets and can be viewed here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110415/ap_on_re_us/us_virginia_tech_shootings_anniversary

In his recent book, Beyond Discipline, Professor Peter Lake offers a new vision for managing the risks of a higher education environment that will help colleges and universities in their ongoing efforts to combat unthinkable violence on campus.  “The Department of Education has accelerated the standards of accountability for American higher education to prevent violence on campus. Colleges and universities must now contend with unprecedented levels of expectation to provide safe and responsible learning environments. This calls for new tools and approaches to meeting such expectations,” said Professor Lake. “One way to do that is to capitalize on educational tools to identify at risk individuals and deal with the dangers they present.”

Virginia Tech received the maximum fines under the law, despite the fact that an employee of the university (Professor Liviu Librescu) gave his life so that his students might survive. Two days after the tragic shootings, on April 18, 2007, President George Bush honored Professor Librescu at a memorial service held at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  “That day we saw horror, but we also saw quiet acts of courage. We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others may live. And this morning we honor his memory and we take strength from his example.”