Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Domenic Ceccanecchio, vice president of Drexel's Public Safety, tour Drexel's communications center located with the University's Department of Public Safety.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano traveled to Drexel University to announce seven colleges and universities competitively selected to participate in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Campus Resilience Pilot Program (CR Pilot). DHS will work with Drexel and six selected colleges and universities to draw on existing resources, collaborate with federal, state and local stakeholders and identify new innovative approaches to promote campus resilience—directly supporting the goals of the President’s plan to reduce gun violence, and making educational institutions safer and more prepared.

“This is an important step in our work with the academic community to help campuses prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate crisis and emergency situations,” said Napolitano. “Through their work with DHS, these colleges and universities will help us further develop best practices, resources and tools needed to assist campus communities nationwide in their efforts to reduce gun violence on campuses and bolster resilience and emergency planning processes for all types of hazards.”

Napolitano, joined by Drexel President John A. Fry, toured the University City campus as well as the headquarters of Drexel's Department of Public Safety and Drexel Police. 

The CR Pilot will emphasize the importance of DHS’ Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) ‘Whole Community’ approach to planning and resilience efforts, and will highlight the needs of various student populations. The selected colleges and universities will help develop and pilot an emergency preparedness and resilience planning program that builds from each campus’ ongoing efforts and facilitated by community engagement, local stakeholders, campus leadership and students.

The CR Pilot was created upon recommendation from the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC)—comprised of prominent university presidents and academic leaders, and charged with advising the Secretary and senior leadership at the Department on matters related to homeland security and the academic community, including campus resilience.    

The CR Pilot is a joint initiative of and is supported by DHS’ FEMA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Student and Exchange Visitor Program, and the Office of Academic Engagement.

In addition to Drexel, the other six universities selected for the CR Pilot are:

• Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut
• Green River Community College, Auburn, Washington
• Navajo Technical College, Crownpoint, New Mexico
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
• Tougaloo College, Jackson, Mississippi
• University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California

While in Philadelphia, Napolitano also met with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to discuss common efforts to reduce gun violence, and the federal government’s ongoing collaboration with partners at all levels of government to support state and local law enforcement to implement measures to prevent, protect, respond, react, and recover from potential future mass casualty shootings.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.