Monday’s horrific news out of Virginia Tech got me thinking about campus openness. As an outsider who often goes to university campuses around Boston to attend talks and meet with people, I face quite a variation in security when trying to get into these buildings. Often I can just walk in (most MIT buildings), other times I have to show photo ID (some Harvard buildings in the Longwood area). Sometimes I have to be escorted by my host (Harvard Medical School).

I’ve always gotten annoyed by the extra hassle of security, but I started rethinking that yesterday. Then I realized that there’s really very little security, short of metal detectors, that would prevent the type of rampage that happened on Monday.

So Boston universities instead are opting to train their police forces in SWAT techniques. And university officials are being told to be on the lookout for people with mental health problems.

It’s a sad and discomforting time on university campuses. But I hope that security doesn’t go overboard and that universities remain essentially open.