In the name of campus safety, the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore has decided to equip its classrooms with new whiteboards to better serve — and protect — professors.
The university has purchased 200 bulletproof whiteboards from defense technology manufacturer Hardwire LLC for its classrooms. The 18 by 20-inch boards, which use the same technology designed for armored vehicles used in Afghanistan, double as a portable writing tablet for everyday use and a personal shield if under attack.
“We believe this is a technology that is going to be helpful in keeping our students and facilities safe,” UMES President Juliette Bell told the Baltimore Sun.
With campus violence such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December and the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, Hardwire founder George Tunis has found that campus safety concerns have risen higher education institutions.
“When Sandy Hook happened…a light bulb went off that it’s really the teachers and administrators who need protection,” Tunis told the Sun. “Those brave souls were trying to close the gap and get to the shooter and stop him, but they didn’t have anything that could stop the bullets along the way.”
The university plans to spend $60,000 on the bulletproof boards, listed as $299 each on Hardwire’s website, and will implement then before classes start on Aug. 26.
Available in white, pink, blue or green, Hardwire touts the boards as blending well with the classroom, leaving “no psychological impact on the students.”
While UMES is the first university to purchase the whiteboards from Hardwire, located about 15 miles south of the university, the company has sold its boards to lower grade schools in five states, including a Minnesota school district.
Hardwire also sells bulletproof clipboards, doors and backpack inserts.
