Late last month, administrators announced updates to the AU Alert system and the school’s emergency lockdown protocol in the months since an armed intruder scare on campus in July.
The alert system is designed to keep students, staff and faculty informed about emergency situations on campus, ranging from gas leaks in the Mary Graydon Center to police or fire activity in university buildings.
Now, all current students will receive AU Alerts, regardless of their registration status in a given term. Students will receive alerts until graduation or termination of enrollment. The memo also addressed the email alert function, which was notably delayed during the July 18 incident due to technical issues with the alert system.
The event marks another incident in a year of difficult situations for American University Police Department. Two common themes among these incidents are the lack of effective communication from AUPD and a lack of trust in the institution. That said, we should note that, within the past five years, AUPD has improved its policies and practices.
Beyond the font changes and underlining, AUPD’s most recent memo appeared like every other email sent from university administration. This makes it difficult for the student body to quickly and effectively discern important pieces of information, much less read it.
At the same time, the memo did not acknowledge the wider issues with the alert system. Many students did not receive any alert via text due to institutional policy implemented to mitigate the “cost of receiving texts and the sense that unwanted or irrelevant texts would be unwelcome,” according to the memo.
The incident revealed two things to AUPD. Firstly, it revealed that students are willing to front the bill of receiving texts that concern their community and lives. This is partially due to the fact that cost-per-text mobile plans phased out of widespread use over a month ago. Secondly, it revealed that students actually live near the American University Park area even when classes are not in session.
Now that AU has recognized these changes, we cannot afford for them to make the same mistakes again. In order for students to feel safe on campus, AU police must become more effective communicators.
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This editorial has been edited throughout.
