Dear Editor,
After the tragic events at Virginia Tech, many universities across the country have adopted an immediate alert system to notify students of immediate threats on campus. Temple is one of those schools, or so they say.
One service that Temple provides is an alert system, TU-Alert, that can either send you a text message, call you or send an e-mail providing details about current threats on campus.
The only time I have ever seen this in action was when they test the system.
Within the past few months, there were two shootings outside of White Hall, an armed robbery at the nearby Rite Aid and, more recently, a mentally ill person walked past security personnel at the Edge and attempted to force himself inside a Temple student’s apartment. In none of those incidents was there an alert sent to Temple students.
This is a growing concern for many students who live on or near campus. Temple holds students accountable for their actions in areas up to 500 yards of any Temple-affiliated building, residence or service. But, when a shooting or robbery or any other crime happens within that 500 yards, Temple ignores the problem.
I was very shocked, among every other resident of White Hall, to hear that there were people shot right outside of our residence hall. Two of my friends saw the shooting, and it was well within the designated 500 yards. Temple did not question my friends. They didn’t alert the residence hall that was next to the shooting. No e-mail was sent the following day to explain what had happened.
Many students share this concern and have addressed Temple’s administration without any luck. It frightens many students because our safety is in the hands of this university. We deserve the right to know if any part of campus or the surrounding area is unsafe. Even the resident assistants share concern for the safety of their residents in the residence halls near Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Susquehanna Avenue. This is Temple’s responsibility to keep us safe, and so far, this university has a failing grade in being able to alert students of the dangers around them.
Nathan Kadish
Freshman, BTMM
there was also no alert sent for the shooting outside the liacouras center, the shooting at 15th & norris, the shooting at 9th & norris of a temple soccer player, or the shooting at broad & susquehanna. temple had its “TUAlert” system when all of these shootings happened.
oh, or the assault in anderson/gladfelter of a student at night that left her in the hospital, unrecognizable to even her own family.
Great article. It voices all of the concerns I have as the parent of a Temple student. I plan to contact the school administration to get answers. Information about the TUAlert system was included in all of the “new student” info we received, yet it has not been used for any of the serious events mentioned in the comments above. The TUAlert system was one of the factors in deciding to send our daughter to school at Temple. The security department gave a great presentation of the system…too bad it isn’t used. My daughter has often called me from Temple asking me to watch the local news to see what’s going on. I feel that Temple is neglient in passing along important safety information to their students. I hope many people respond to this article so the administration is aware of the serious concerns of students and parents. Please continue to pass this message along to Temple – they need to step up security measures NOW.