Dear University Who Failed to Alert Us Yet Again,

This week, a 20-year student was murdered in his apartment complex by a fellow student. As I sat in my apartment reading that the student was still at large, I realized my university had not contacted me... again. I know that your policy states alerts will only activate if the danger on campus is an "immediate, imminent threat", but what about when someone gets shot to death only a few yards away from "campus?" When there is still a shooter at large, do I not have the right to know I should be careful in my student apartment, a quarter of a mile from campus?

Here's a little backstory to my frustration: last February, one man in my city killed seven people and injured two others for no apparent reason. This tragedy has been labeled as the "Uber Shootings" throughout the world and my university did not alert the student body. It all felt like a nightmare, knowing that each person was at risk if they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Yet, you didn't send out an automated text telling us to stay indoors. As adolescents and young adults, the university often acts as our parents. The Jeanne Cleary Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act was formed after a student was raped and murdered on her campus in 1986. The Cleary Act is aimed at protecting students and it only seems right that when a crisis is unfolding in our city, you inform us in a timely manner.

I understand you may have deemed the situation as no longer dangerous, but what if another student had walked by and been shot because they hadn't been warned? It is your job to protect us, whether we live on or off campus. I urge you to reevaluate the university-wide system to alert us to any emergency unfolding at or near our campus. Last year, it was seven people who were deeply connected in our community, but this week, it was one of us. This week, one of my peers was killed. One warning per emergency has the potential to save lives, so isn't it a step worth taking?

Sincerely,

Concerned College Students Everywhere