Preparing for crisis is certainly no promise of prevention, and from the vantage of hindsight the diligent course may seem obvious. Nonetheless, it is worth remembering that while awareness is the most basic tool of crisis prevention, its importance is often overlooked. An increased awareness of the types of behaviors that can be precursors to violent behavior in students can provide an opportunity for threats to be identified and addressed before behavior reaches crisis levels. If a threat of potential violence is identified, it is critical to attempt to mitigate the situation and de-escalate the individual. General changes in behavior can be a tip-off that someone is experiencing some difficulty in their lives. Withdrawal and isolation, although commonly reported by parents and faculty, should be addressed as these actions may be their way of trying to deal with a difficult situation in their lives. At times, the individual may be expressing their emotions more directly through artwork or writings. Many times people have heard after an incident that these "red flags" were there but no one took the next step to bring it to someone's attention. If the potential threat has escalated to a crisis situation, having the ability to quickly assess the threat will enable one to respond as needed. While tightening budgets and perpetual understaffing may make it easy to dismiss a formal crisis preparedness program as an unaffordable luxury, crisis planning can be undertaken one step at a time. And even the simplest steps can pay dividends in the form of a university that is safer and better able to manage crisis. It is far too easy, when considering the potential for violence within a university, to take a statistical view and conclude that the likelihood of violence befalling any particular campus is small. While that view may be factual, most would agree that any degree of risk to students warrants, at the very least, the basic steps of crisis preparation. Crises are, by their very nature, chaotic, confusing, and debilitating. Planning ahead at even the most basic level may not be able to prevent crisis in all cases, but it can strengthen response and recovery.