Although Midnight Madness is usually a less-than-apt moniker for an event that ends well before the zero hour, the event lived up to the second half of its name Friday night, when a student allegedly stole a Park Police officer’s handgun and shot a toilet in a McDonough Gymnasium bathroom. The University handled much of its response well in the critical minutes after the gun was stolen, but the decision not to send a text message alert could have endangered lives if the shooter’s intent had been malicious.
When University officials decided to hold students in the lobby of McDonough Gymnasium for a few minutes after the event had ended, there were no signs of panic. Basketball Coach John Thompson III, who had been notified of the situation, handled the circumstances well by prolonging Midnight Madness. In fact, that seemingly superfluous “We are Georgetown” chant after the festivities had ended and the invitation to “continue the party” on the basketball court were instrumental in keeping students both calm and inside the gymnasium.
While those inside Midnight Madness were safe, however, the rest of campus was at risk. A police incident report lists the shooting as occurring between 10:21 and 10:25 p.m., and the suspect was apprehended some 30 to 40 minutes later in Village C West. In the meantime, someone was at large with a firearm on Georgetown’s campus. If the police reports about alleged shooter, freshman Alex Thiele, are true, then the gun was also inside a freshman dorm.
Why, then, was no HOYAlert text message sent to students who had signed up for them? According to the Office of University Safety, “HOYAlert may be used to notify members of the university community in the event of a campus emergency or closure. Text messages and other emergency notifications may be made at any time as incidents occur, 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, 365 days/year.” Someone with a high quality firearm, who had already shown questionable judgment by shooting a toilet, roaming around campus for 30 minutes certainly qualifies as a campus emergency.
Georgetown began HOYAlert in 2007, partially in response to the Virginia Tech massacre. It is surprising, then, that in a scenario that looks a lot like the beginning of the Virginia Tech massacre–an armed student roaming a college campus–the University chose not to use the text message system.
A 2:39 a.m. e-mail from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson helpfully explained the basics of the situation to students. A text message at the right moment, however, would have meant putting more students out of risk. While Georgetown handled many parts of Friday night adeptly, the failure to use student alerts put lives in danger.
