Recent stabbings at two Massachusetts area colleges have prompted schools to reexamine their security plans as they attempt to maintain long-held values of public access, according to a local news report.

At Regis College, Weston, Mass., an 18-year-old was stabbed to death in a parking lot outside a dormitory. At Boston College, police stepped up campus patrols, after a student was stabbed in the abdomen outside a dormitory. Authorities are still looking for the persons responsible for both of these attacks.

Security specialists say the attacks underline the reality that even secluded campuses are prone to violence from outsiders and schools need to take aggressive steps to keep their students safe.

The Middlesex district attorney’s office recently held a statewide summit for college administrators, law enforcement officials, and mental health counselors to brainstorm strategies to protect students.

“There needs to be more of an investment in campus security,’’ said Jonathan Kassa, who directs Security On Campus Inc.“Unfortunately, this highlights that crime does occur on every campus and students need to be aware of it.’’ Security on Campus Inc. is lobbying state lawmakers to require private colleges to make more campus police records public, contending that colleges under report levels of crime.

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