Multi-year safety campaign on OTC campus hits milestone with Lincoln Hall

Following shootings and safety concerns on other campuses, Ozarks Technical Community College came up with a plan to better safeguard students and employees. A security fee of $3 per credit hour was approved in 2016 and the funds raised — roughly $600,000 a year — have been used to add safety equipment, strengthen safety measures and hire more security officers. The OTC Board of Trustees has now approved security system, surveillance and emergency alert upgrades to Lincoln Hall. The historically significant structure — opened in 1930 as a school for African American students during segregation — is the final major classroom building on the Springfield campus to gain the heightened safety measures.