As students sit in the library and cram for their final exams, it's likely that the last thing on their minds is safety. This week, Collin College is turning the page, becoming the first community college in Texas to have a marshal program.
In 2015, the Texas Legislature expanded the marshal program to two-year colleges. The program is specialized training for full-time employees who have a license to carry a weapon — and now, an obligation to act at the scariest times.
"It's sad that it has to even come to this," student Bray Sutton said.
Staff can already conceal-carry a firearm, but this is different. "These individuals volunteer for the program, they are not paid and they're willing to put themselves at risk," said Tom Delamater, Chief of Collin College's Public Relations.
When students and employees were surveyed recently, more than 80 percent of those surveyed liked the idea of having a specially trained staff, who people don't know are armed, at the ready. Delamater said more than 500 people had responded to that survey.
"A police officer is not going to get there instantly, that's going to take time," Sutton said.
"I just don't think it's necessary to put teachers through that training for something that isn't going to happen," said Austin Hunt, another student.
Collin College has a brand new public safety facility. Presumably the staff would be taught at this firing range if approved by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
"They would be authorized to act in the event of a shooting or some other event," Delamater said.
The college told WFAA the first group of anonymous school marshals won't be active for at least nine months. Safety is likely the last thing on student's minds, and this college says it wants to keep it that way.