College Shorts

Author: Zamir Ahmed

Man opens fire on Montreal campus

One person was killed and 20 others were wounded after a 25-year-old man opened fire on the campus of Dawson College in downtown Montreal on September 13. The gunman later shot himself in the head after a shootout with police.

Witnesses say that Kimveer Gill, wearing a trench coat and carrying a semiautomatic rifle and two other guns, started firing at students near an entrance to a building on campus without provocation at 12:41 p.m. After police responded to the initial attack, Gill entered the building and continued to shoot randomly as he made his way to a crowded cafeteria. Police followed Gill inside the building and wounded him in the arm before he turned the gun on himself.

Initial reports said that there were multiple shooters on campus, leading police to block off the 12-acre college and shut down a nearby major subway line in an effort to prevent an escape. Police searched the college door-to-door but believe Gill acted alone.

There appears to be no motive for the shooting but Montreal police do not believe there was any racist or terrorist connection to the attack. Investigators were looking into disturbing pictures and writings Gill had posted on a Web site called "vampirefreaks.com," including a number of posts made just hours before the shooting. Gill was not a student or former student of Dawson College and did not have a criminal record.

Seven of the wounded remain in area hospitals, including two who are in critical condition. The college, with an enrollment of 10,000 students, reopened on Monday but many students were reluctant to go back because of stress and anxiety. Montreal hospitals have received a large number of phone calls since the shooting by people seeking psychiatric support to cope with the trauma while drop-in centers have been opened near the college for people looking help.

- CNN.com and The New York Times


Women's college to admit men in 2007

In a move that has drawn the ire of faculty, students and alumnae, trustees at Randolph-Macon Women's College have voted to admit male students to the college for the first time starting in Fall 2007. The trustees hope that the move will help the college stabilize its financial struggles after years of declining enrollment.

Officials at the Lynchburg, Va. college first proposed the idea last month, igniting agitation and anger among the student body and alumnae. Students organized campus protests to demonstrate against the measure while others created online petitions to submit to the administration. One alumnae group hired a lawyer to use legal concerns to dissuade the decision.

On September 9, in front of 400 jeering students and alumnae, the college's trustees president announced that the board, in a 25-2 vote, had decided to become coeducational for the first time in its 115-year history.

College officials said the move was necessary because enrollment this fall is only 700 students, down from almost 900 in the 1960s. With enrollment falling, the college has had to dip into its $140 million endowment for operations.

According to the Women's College Coalition, only 60 women's colleges remain across the United States, down from nearly 300 in the 1960s.

The college will change its name before going coed as there is already a Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., which is a former men's school.

- CNN.com