FARMINGDALE, NY  (TIP):  NY) Senator John E. Brooks (SD-8) presented a funding award of $300,000 to the State University of New York at Farmingdale – Farmingdale State College (SUNY Farmingdale) – to support an infrastructure project currently underway to address campus security issues and to improve communication and emergency preparedness training to ensure the safety and security of its faculty, staff, and students.

In response to a spate of national gun violence tragedies – and in the event that such an attack were to occur on its grounds – Farmingdale State College (FSC) administration conducted town-hall forums, shelter-in-place training exercises, and tabletop scenarios, over the course of 18 months, to assess campus emergency preparedness. FSC leadership prioritized soliciting feedback regarding opportunities for improvement or any areas of potential risk.

As a result of feedback provided, FSC is undertaking a comprehensive initiative to evaluate security in offices, classrooms, and laboratories in all of its campus buildings – with the proposed project including risk assessment, gap analysis of existing infrastructure, purchase and installation of locking mechanisms with improved functionality, and acquisition of hard-wired key-card access assemblies that will not only improve access control but will also provide key information in the event of a crime or other incident on campus.

A strong advocate for gun violence reduction and prevention, Senator Brooks understood and shared the sense of urgency shown by FSC leaders in addressing these infrastructure concerns remarking, “These improvements will be vital in the ongoing effort to ensure the safety and security of faculty, staff, and students at Farmingdale State College. As we have unfortunately seen time and time again, there is a horrible gun violence epidemic sweeping our nation. Sadly, as we just recently saw in Uvalde, many of these tragedies could have been prevented if the appropriate steps had been taken to allow our public institutions to upgrade their security features to provide a safe and secure environment for all. After hearing about the steps that FSC leadership was undertaking to ensure that safety of its students and faculty, I was determined to do all I could to help, so it was an absolute honor to return to my alma mater and present this funding grant to FSC President Dr. John S. Nader.”

The proposed project, coupled with continued communication and emergency preparedness training, will address interior security challenges, including purchasing new hardware for doorways unable to lock from the inside as well as replacing any wireless key-card access systems with hard-wired mechanisms.

Upon receiving the funding grant on behalf of FSC, Nader reflected, “Thanks to Senator John Brooks’ efforts, we have made great strides in making one of America’s safest campuses even more safe. Senator Brooks has been a tireless advocate for the College and for college students. As always, we appreciate his work.”