Office of the President, Shirley Strum Kenny

Online commentaries from President Shirley Strum Kenny

SPEAKING OF ...
Securing the Campus

On the Monday of the gun scare, my office got a call from my brother Stanley in Waco, Texas, who had heard on CNN and NBC that there was a gunman loose on the Stony Brook campus. Now if Stanley could hear the news in Waco and worry about his sister, think of all the parents and siblings closer to home who heard the "news" and worried about their students. It must have been terrible for many people.

As it turned out, there was no gunman, but there was a flood of reporters, camera trucks, even television helicopters hovering over the campus. When the scare was over, there was a press conference, the room bulging with reporters and cameras. And later there were many messages complaining, congratulating us, making suggestions for improvements, displaying anger and frustration — all duly appreciated, many helpful in our post mortem considerations.

As a human being, I ached for all those who felt fear for themselves or for loved ones. On my job, I had to deal with what could have been the worst situation one could ever face on a campus.

Here is the real story: Someone had stolen some food from the SAC cafeteria. A Chartwell’s worker who stopped him told police he thought he saw a gun before the man dashed away. From the moment the incident was reported, we had no choice but to act under the assumption that there was a gun. Given Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois, we simply could not risk the possibility of underestimating any potential danger. What could later look like over-reaction was the only responsible response.

Now, in the aftermath of a non-event, I find that perhaps it was not so terrible that we had a “dry run” of our safety plans. We have learned from the experience and the advice of those who were on campus, and we have improved our systems.

Some people complained of repetitive messages. Our Emergency Management Team is working with the vendor of the system to limit the number of messages in the future.
Others complained they had not received messages. It turns out that some had not properly signed up on SOLAR. The Team is working to make a sign-up page on SOLAR that is more user-friendly to prevent such problems in the future. The page will clearly indicate how to sign up for text, voice, or e-mail emergency notifications; users will have a choice of one, two, or all three options.
A new plan has been established to activate the website simultaneously with the distribution of the first message so there will be no delay in posting information on the web.
A siren had been ordered before the incident occurred and will be installed as quickly as possible. When it sounds, it will be a signal for people to check their emergency messages.

We will do everything we can to perfect our system, but not all details are under our control. For example, during the recent scare, the first message was issued to the thousands who had signed up in 26 minutes (the experts say anything under 30 minutes is very good). But the All Clear took an hour. Why? Probably because there was a lot of "chatter" about the incident clogging up the system and slowing things down.

Suggestions from those of you who experienced difficulties have been very helpful. I certainly hope we are over-prepared and never have to test the system again. But if we do, we plan to be ready with the best possible emergency communication system.

I’m also hoping that the next time Stanley hears about Stony Brook down in Waco, it will be because of a new medical discovery, our continually soaring academic rankings, or a championship Seawolves' victory.

Shirley.Kenny@stonybrook.edu