Students angry over delayed UPennAlert

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Around 4 a.m. Sunday — roughly one hour after a shooting near 40th and Locust streets which left one dead — the Division of Public Safety issued a UPennAlert e-mail notification summarizing the incident.

Although Penn and Philadelphia police officers immediately apprehended the suspects, the Penn community expressed much concern over the delayed e-mail notification of the situation and the absence of a text message.

DPS defended its decision to not issue a text message through the emergency notification system. “We purposely used e-mail, so as not to unduly alarm the Penn Community members who were asleep, particularly since the incident was completely under control and no threat existed for our community,” Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush wrote in a statement.

Some students, however, believed a text message should have been issued. “I thought the purpose of the UPennAlert text system was to notify us in the event of an emergency. If the system is in place, then this was a situation that merited it,” College junior and former Daily Pennsylvanian staff member Travis Gingerich said.

While DPS’s intent was to not cause alarm among students, many felt the absence of a text message and the delayed e-mail heightened a general sense of panic during yesterday’s incident. “They need to tell people,” Undergraduate Assembly representative and Engineering junior Matt Sternberg said at Sunday night’s UA meeting addressing the issue. “The idea they would cause people more panic by telling people is completely absurd.”

Any notification that briefly explained the incident and provided guidance would have alleviated the general sense of alarm, College senior Emily Andersen explained.

“I think not knowing anything made the situation worse,” she said.

DPS also drew student criticism when it did not issue an alert following a January shooting at the Bridge Cinema de Lux — now Rave Cinema — at 40th and Walnut streets.

In addressing the absence of a text message, some called for more transparency in DPS’s use of the UPennAlert system. “I want to know what goes into their decision making,” Wharton and College senior Michael Weintraub said. “What criteria are they using when … they decide to send a random text about a Sansom [Street] stabbing, but not one where there was a shooter on campus?”

Weintraub was referring to a February incident in which DPS sent a text message alert concerning a stabbing on the 3800 block of Sansom Street. The alert prompted controversy because it initially misreported the location as the 3600 block and did not specify that the assault was a stabbing.

The need for transparency in issuing UPennAlerts was a topic of discussion at Sunday night’s UA meeting. Wharton senior and UA representative Mo Shahin explained that the UA would like to work with DPS to create a set of guidelines and criteria in which students can expect an immediate notification regarding any situation.

UA President and College senior Matt Amalfitano explained the need for “some sort of guidance” in any notification used. “Any text or e-mail needs to provide some sort of instruction. Students need to know whether they can stay indoors or return home in an emergency.”

College freshman and UA representative Ernest Owens summarized the general sentiment regarding Sunday’s incident. “The alert could have been done faster,” he said. “If the House Dean of DuBois [College House] sent out an e-mail before DPS, then something needs to be changed.”

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