EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Faculty at Michigan State University are still figuring out how to move forward from the traumatic mass shooting.
But for one staff member, this isn’t the first one she has lived through.
Christina Brogdon was working at Virginia Tech nearly 16 years ago when 32 people were killed. The deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Brogdon said her office was across the street from where shots were fired in Blacksburg.
After being hired as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for MSU just nine months ago, here she is again.
“I believe I’m here for such a time as this,” said Brogdon. “We, I think wrote the book on how to do it right, and so I’ve seen those best practices, we have a threat assessment cadence, we have an alert system these are things that we did not have during my time at Virginia Tech.”
Brogdan said she hopes that she stands as an example for anyone who is beginning the healing process.
“We are going to get through this, I’m living proof of that. I’m a survivor, and now I’m a two-time survivor, and that’s not a lesson I take lightly,” continued Brogdon. “We have sort of become scattered with our friends, families, our loved ones. I think after this week we have been pulling each other closer.”
Brogdon says the police response to the shooting was faster and bigger than it was at Virginia Tech, and that the amount of mental health support and community coordination has been overwhelming.
