President's response to Northern Illinois University tragedy
February 15, 2008
Dear Friends:
On Thursday, our country was once again shaken by the stark reality of a shooting incident at a university that resulted in a needless loss of life and many injuries. I ask you to please join with me in extending our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of this heartbreaking tragedy at Northern Illinois University.
I want to take this opportunity to remind you of how we would respond in a similar situation. While it’s my deepest desire that incidents like this never happen again, we must be pragmatic and at the very least consider them within the structure of our own university’s emergency planning.
As part of that planning, you can rest assured UIW will assume a proactive stance toward the safety and welfare of our community. In the event of an extreme emergency, we will do the following: Assist and advise those individuals, whether external or internal, who respond directly to the critical incident; coordinate services and activities of Incarnate Word with the appropriate local agencies; communicate accurate information to the internal and external communities; and support post-critical incident efforts and activities.
We believe the University of the Incarnate Word has the infrastructure in place to make ours a safe campus. It is patrolled around the clock, seven days a week, by a uniformed police force whose members are also licensed as peace officers by the State of Texas and commissioned by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, our location puts us within easy access of the police departments and emergency services of both San Antonio and Alamo Heights.
Incarnate Word has in place an emergency response team composed of senior university personnel. These are individuals who are very familiar with the campus through their many years of service to UIW. We also have an emergency response plan that will be updated to address new issues as they arise.
We have a number of ways in which we can quickly communicate with the internal campus community, including the RAVE Alert system that we implemented late last year. For those of you unfamiliar with RAVE, it is a communications system in which we can deliver emergency information to you via your cell phone by using text messages and e-mails. If you haven’t done so, I strongly encourage you to register for RAVE Alert. For more information, please go to www.getrave.com/login/uiw.
Last year we also placed an emergency siren atop the Agnese/Sosa Residence Hall that we will use in case of a campus emergency.
In addition, we have regular e-mails and a campus-wide telephone broadcast system that allows us to instantly leave blanket voice mail messages to anyone with access to a campus telephone.
We also have an internet radio station that broadcasts daily that we can utilize in emergency situations. And we regularly post information on the university’s Web site, and are currently investigating options that will augment access to the site by developing faster delivery modes featuring greater amounts of relevant emergency information.
In the event of a worst-case scenario such as a shooting, we will immediately lock down the campus and initiate emergency measures, including possible evacuations and containment procedures, to ensure the safety of our students and employees.
Finally, we have been developing plans on procedures to guide faculty members in identifying potentially worrisome behavior by students.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share with you some of our emergency procedures. The wellbeing of UIW is paramount in our planning process, and it’s our goal to offer a safe and nurturing environment for the Incarnate Word community. We appreciate that you have entrusted your safety and that of your loved ones to us, and we will do everything possible to provide and maintain a secure environment at Incarnate Word.
Sincerely,
Louis J. Agnese, Jr., Ph.D.
President
University of the Incarnate Word
