MUSG passed resolution critisizing lack of communication.

Administrators: students not in imminent danger

Students can enter cell numbers for emergency text notification on checkmarq.,”

• Administrators urging students to register cell numbers.
• Senior Director of University Communication Mary Pat Pfeil said students could have been notified the Nov. 18th situation was under control.
• MUSG passed resolution criticizing lack of communication.
• Students can enter cell numbers for emergency text notification on CheckMarq.

Marquette officials are urging students to register their cell phone numbers for text message emergency notification.

Students have been encouraged to enter their cell numbers into Jyngle, a text message alert system, by several News Briefs, biweekly e-mail updates sent by the Office of Marketing and Communication. More than 3,000 cell numbers are currently listed in the text notification system, according to Mary Pat Pfeil, senior director of university communication.

However, the text notification system has yet to be used because the system is only for events of immediate danger. Test emergency texts have been sent to administrators and a test is being planned for a sample of students, Pfeil said.

Other means of emergency notification used by the university include e-mail, Web, print and phone forms, Pfeil said in an e-mail. A special safety alert was sent via e-mail last month warning students of two robberies in the area.

Pfeil said she recognizes one instance where emergency notification was underutilized. Marquette students should have been notified of the November stand-off at an on campus parking structure lot, she said.

"We considered sending an e-mail after the fact," Pfeil said. "In hindsight, I wish we would have done that."

According to previous Tribune reports, on Nov. 15, a man with a knife and grenade attempted to rob a 19-year-old Marquette student at the Wells Street Parking Structure, 1240 W. Wells St. The Milwaukee Police Department detained the suspect three hours later at the Hilton Hotel, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Students in the area surrounding the parking structure were told to stay in their dorms, but no official notification was sent to all students. Last December, Marquette Student Government passed a recommendation criticizing the university for the lack of communication.

Schroeder Hall Senator Bill Doerrer, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the administration "dropped the ball. The no. 1 focus of the administration should be safety. We heard several complaints from students on how the situation was handled."

The first draft of the resolution, presented at the Dec. 6 MUSG Senate meeting, only recommended the university "utilize appropriate means of communication" for subsequent events. At the meeting, however, the Senate voted to add a clause clearly criticizing the lack of notification.

"We originally weren't sure if the bill would pass with such strong language," Doerrer said. "But the Senate liked the stronger message and thought it would add pressure to the administration."

In response to the bill, several administrators sent a two-page letter to Legislative Vice President Jason Rae, a College of Arts & Sciences senior. The letter stressed that both MPD and DPS believed there was "no imminent danger to students outside the parking structure."

The letter also said a team of administrators addressed "a number of concerns," including "the inability to reach key personnel and procedures for notification of nearby facilities."

The letter cited a fear of providing too much detail while the situation was under MPD investigation as a reason no notification was sent. The letter was signed by DPS Chief Larry Rickard, Vice President for Administration Arthur Scheuber, Vice President for Student Affairs the Rev. Andy Thon and Pfeil.

MUSG President and College of Arts & Sciences senior Brock Banks said he stressed the importance of student safety in a response to the letter.

"Safety trumps every other student issue," Banks said.

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