“Armageddon.”
It was the word California State University Chancellor Timothy White used Friday to describe the confluence of tragedies affecting the state, and by association, the Long Beach-based system’s campuses from north to south.
From the deadly shooting during a college-night gathering at a Thousand Oaks bar to raging wildfires in Northern and Southern California that forced evacuations of students and staff, and even destroyed some of their homes, CSU officials have been scrambling to respond with counselors and support, he said.
The result, White told City News Service, has been a massive coordinated undertaking by university officials to move support staff from campuses such as Fullerton and Northridge to affected areas, and coordinate emergency response efforts across 23 schools, even those not directly impacted.
“I’m saddened by all the events, but I’m very proud and encouraged” by the university’s response, White told CNS from Cal State Fullerton, where he was attending a public forum on the search for a new president for the university.
White said response efforts began with the Wednesday night shooting at the Borderline nightclub in Thousand Oaks that left 13 people dead, including the gunman and a Ventura County sheriff’s sergeant. The bar was packed with college students, including at least five from Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo. They managed to escape, but the shooting sent shockwaves through the community.
“We mobilized early in the morning,” White said, noting that counselors were in place before daybreak, while people were still scrambling to figure out who had survived and who had died.
“It’s a place that everybody thought over the years was safe,” White told CNS. “… It shatters kids that didn’t even go there (Borderline).”
But even as the community was searching for answers to the tragedy, another one erupted in the form of the Hill Fire, which began burning Thursday afternoon in the Newbury Park area, followed quickly by the Woolsey Fire south of Simi Valley.
By mid-afternoon Thursday, Cal State Channel Islands was being evacuated due to the thick smoke from the blazes.
“It’s one thing to have students come to the campus and avail themselves of grief counselors (after the shooting),” White said. ” … Now that the campus has been evacuated because of the fires, they’re all dispersed.”
He said support teams from Cal State Fullerton had been dispatched to the Channel Islands campus to help with grief counseling, and then support crews from Northridge were sent in response to the fires.
“That’s a work in progress,” he said of efforts to reach out to students and staff.
At the same time, a conflagration had erupted in Northern California. The Camp Fire, which has since turned deadly, was scorching its way through tens of thousands of acres and by Thursday night, it was burning on the outskirts of Chico.
CSU officials were quickly forced to turn their attention to Chico State University, where the campus Emergency Operations Center was activated. Although the campus itself was not directly threatened by flames, it was eventually closed due to poor air quality from the smoke.
But worse than that, White said, was the impact on university staff and students. He said more than 100 university employees have lost their homes to the blaze — prompting another wave of movement of support staff.
By Thursday afternoon, Sonoma State University was also shut down due to smoke. Although the campus was closed, officials there were passing out masks to students and staff. That campus will remain shuttered through at least Saturday.
Through it all, White said the CSU’s system of emergency response teams — a network he called one of a kind for a university system — has operated seamlessly. He said it was “the first time in a long time” the CSU has activated its emergency operations centers systemwide.