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February 15, 2008, 02:25 PM ET
Northern Illinois U. Had No System for Sending Emergency Messages to Cellphones
Soon after a gunman opened fire in a classroom at Northern Illinois University yesterday, campus administrators sent an emergency-alert message to students, professors, and staff members via campus e-mail and voice mail, and they posted information on the campus Web site. But the university did not have a system that could send emergency messages via text message to cellphones — a method that a growing number of colleges have set up since the shootings last spring at Virginia Tech.
Marc Ladin, vice president of global marketing for 3N, which makes a text-message alert system used by about 100 colleges and universities in the United States, said some colleges using the service have encouraged students to enter the cellphone numbers of their parents, as well as their own. He said such a system would have been particularly useful at Northern Illinois, where some students reportedly had trouble calling home because the area’s cellphones were overloaded at one point. “It helps to create a sense of calm,” said Mr. Ladin. “When people don’t have correct information, it makes them think the worst.”
A staff member at Northern Illinois said a siren sounded on campus for about half an hour yesterday afternoon — a low-tech way to signal an emergency. Mr. Ladin said that other colleges have been installing sirens in recent months, Virginia Tech among them.
Northern Illinois University’s first emergency message, posted at 3:20 p.m. yesterday, said: “There has been a report of a possible gunman on campus. Get to a safe area and take precautions until given the all clear. Avoid the King Commons and all buildings in that vicinity.”
A message posted on the university’s Web site at 3:50 p.m. said: “It has been confirmed that there has been a shooting on campus and several people have been taken away by ambulance. All NIU campuses are closed and classes are canceled for tonight and tomorrow (2/15/08) on the DeKalb campus. People are urged not to come to campus. More information will be posted as it becomes available.” —Jeffrey R. Young
Categories: Leadership
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