By Julia Mericle
News Editor
When university officials hired Gary Segrue as director of Safety and Security in July, he said he wanted to test the function of all emergency notification systems available on campus.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, tests were run on the steam whistle and e2Campus alert system to ensure proper function in case of emergency. The tests were successful, said Segrue. Tests were run on the emergency notification systems last semester successfully, as well.
According to Segrue, both emergency notification systems are to be used for emergencies such as severe weather, natural disaster, biochemical spill, large involved fire, hazardous material spill, active shooter, hostage situation, campus evacuation or a serious crime that has occurred outside campus with suspect(s) still at large.
Segrue said Safety and Security is aware that there are parts of campus where the steam whistle cannot be heard, but said the location of the whistle is near several high traffic areas of campus, such as the Hickey Dining Hall, the Reilly Center and Friedsam Memorial Library.
Segrue did not provide details to other solutions for students who would not hear the whistle.
The steam whistle, which was installed on campus decades ago, is free to use.
“It is an effective system to notify students, staff and faculty that something is occurring and to be cognizant that an alert message will be coming in another form,” Segrue said.
According to Segrue, the e2Campus alert system, which sends a text message to those signed up, can be used for all the same emergencies. It can also be used to notifying the campus community of crimes, such as sexual assaults on campus or utility outages.
Last spring, the e2campus alert system was used to make students aware of a dangerous derivative of heroin that impacted four individuals in Salamanca, approximately 15 miles west of Bonaventure.
Approximately 1,250 students, faculty and staff are signed up to receive the emergency text alerts, which costs the university $2,000 a year, according to Segrue.
“Clearly, that’s not everyone,” Segrue said. “So we’d like to strongly encourage anyone from the Bonaventure community who has not signed up for it to do so.”
Students can sign up by going to e2Campus notification system under student services on my.sbu.edu.
Other emergency notification systems are also in place, including the Cisco phone messaging system, mass emails to all Bonaventure accounts and the Notice Board, said Segrue. These will be tested within the month.
mericlje13@bonaventure.edu
