Some University of Waterloo students are still feeling uneasy since 3 were stabbed in class

Some University of Waterloo students say they still feel shocked after the June 28 stabbing of three people at the school in southern Ontario.

Shortly after the attack in a gender studies classroom that sent a teacher and two students to hospital, Waterloo regional police said they believed it was hate crime. A 24-year-old recent college graduate faces 10 charges, including aggravated assault.

Some, like engineering student Shub Mano, are still shaken by the incident.

“It was a bit surreal that it all happened at Waterloo [campus]’, he said. “I didn’t expect Waterloo to have that kind of violence. It’s a pretty safe campus.”

Psychology student Ria Gupta said the incident has given her nightmares.

“[The university] should tell us what they’ve done, what steps they’ve taken to further secure the campus,” she said. “Like, what did you do after the incident that makes me feel like I want to go back to college. I don’t feel like stepping foot on campus.”

She said she now tries to avoid walking around campus alone because as a woman she feels vulnerable.

Gupta said she was also nervous about entering the Hagey Hall building to take a class in a room right next to where the stabbings took place.

Caleb Williams is a physics and engineering exchange student from Chicago.

Williams attended a high school equipped with a metal detector at all entrances. He said it is not the right solution for the University of Waterloo.

“In a way, it prevents people who want to do something bad from doing it. But at the same time, does that really solve the cause? That could be a plaster on a gaping wound.”

Students ask university to do more

A group of students has started an online petition demanding several security upgrades, including an emergency alert system that can send text messages and robocalls to students on campus.

The petition, which had 167 signatures as of Monday, also suggested installing a campus siren to alert students during emergencies.

A day after the attack, university officials said the internal emergency alert system — called WatSAFE — was not working as expected after the stabbings.

Rebecca Elming, a spokesperson for the university, confirmed that the app sent an alert to students 90 minutes after the incident.

In response to the petition, the University of Waterloo issued a statement to CBC News saying it has “taken steps to address the delay in using the WatSAFE app and is exploring other options for our long-term emergency response system.”

Community forums to hear concerns

Mano said he hopes the university learns from its mistakes.

“The information was not provided until hours after the incident,” he said, recalling the confusion many students may have felt hours after the incident first happened.

“Now I understand they don’t want to be afraid of a farmer… [but] it would be nice if there were more clear instructions… A lot of people learned [about the emergency] through their professors or through class announcements, which should not be the way such information should be disseminated.”

Engineering student Maya Wei hopes the university will find ways to support students who are still struggling.

“We got a lot of announcements saying it was just going to be rallies and rallies. I feel like that doesn’t really do anything for me,” she said. “It’s not really a solid move.”

The university is hosting two community forums on July 17 to hear from staff and students about their concerns and explore ways to “make the campus safer and more inclusive, promote well-being, and move forward together.”