Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: News

After the Virginia Tech tragedy, Loyola College Public Safety officials asked themselves how they could better get in touch with students in case of an emergency on campus. One of the solutions to the problem is the e2Campus program: a system managed by a third party that allows Loyola Police to instantly send out broadcast text messages containing vital information.

The e2Campus system is designed to be used for "situations posing imminent physical threats to the College Community," according to Loyola's Public Safety website which also says that it "complements the existing Loyola Emergency Notification System (LENS), which includes outside sirens, PM Evergreen e-mails, phone mail announcements, and indoor fire alarm speakers." An official with the LCPD stated that they try to keep students well-informed about safety issues by sending out incident alerts via e-mail, but that this new tool will allow for much faster dissemination of information in an emergency. The official added, "You pray you never have to use it, but we have it there just in case."

Freshmen enrollment in e2Campus has been strong because they had the option to register during orientation, but the upperclassmen who are the real targets for the system due to their proximity to York Road have been slower to sign up. Loyola has purchased licenses from e2Campus for the entire student body, but it is up to the students themselves to submit their cell phone numbers to the service. This can be done easily through the link on the bottom of a student's Blackboard homepage, and will only take a few minutes to complete. Students can even register for the updates to go to their e-mail if they prefer.

Added to the continued safety updates from LCPD, this new level of security is a step in the right direction for a much safer campus environment. At last update, there were over 1,700 registered e2Campus users at Loyola, which leaves significant room for growth. Considering that there are no extra costs for the vast majority of Loyola students, most people use the SMS text function on a daily basis, there seems to be no reason not to register. This is a system designed to work for subscribers even when phone and e-mail systems are down. That fact, coupled with the system's ability to broadcast information in real-time, could turn e2Campus into a very useful tool for the Loyola community.

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