Every time we hear about a campus murder, we feel as if we’ve lost a member of our family.

Flashbacks cue from the Virginia Tech shootings of 2007 that left 32 students dead. Then our thoughts turn to the shootings at Northern Illinois University that took five students’ lives. And after the shootings on May 4, 1970, when our campus also learned about the pain that goes along with the loss of life at a place of learning.

And on Sunday two students were killed at the University of Central Arkansas. Ryan Henderson, 18, and Chavares Block, 19, both lost their lives. Police said the killings did not appear to be random acts of violence and that there was no remaining threat on campus, but that doesn’t make us rest any easier.

It seems as if this violence will never stop.

With each senseless act of violence, the higher education community loses some of itself. It’s difficult to look at these situations and not think it could have happened to one of us.

Despite precautions put in place by universities, we will never be completely safe. We shouldn’t, however, live in fear. We have a right to feel safe on our campuses.

Our universities need to foster a community where students feel comfortable reporting suspicious situations on their campuses that could lead to violence.

Universities should be a place for young people to expand their understanding of the world in which they live. They should not be places where precious lives are lost for petty hatred or misunderstandings.

The above editorial is the conensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board whose members are listed to the left.