Campus News - Framingham State College Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28, 2008

CONTACT:
Mari Megias, 508/626-4047, mmegias@frc.mass.edu

Message from President Timothy Flanagan Regarding Campus Security

To the FSC Community,

At midday on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 the College experienced an emergency situation in Hemenway Hall. Briefly, an FSC student informed Campus Police of finding a threatening note in a restroom in Hemenway. Campus Police immediately executed the College’s emergency plan, including evacuating the building, contacting other local public safety departments, and informing the campus community by activating the Emergency Notification System (ENS). Coincidentally, a widely-publicized test of the ENS was scheduled for 2:00 pm the same day. College personnel immediately went online to cancel the test of the system, but the ENS issued the test messages in addition to the genuine threat message. As a result, some members of the campus community received conflicting messages. We will be proactive in working with the ENS vendor to improve the response of the ENS.

We greatly appreciate the prompt and effective response of the faculty, staff and students who were in Hemenway Hall. They quickly and safely evacuated the building, gathered in the College Center, and were advised by the Chief of Police of the situation. We also deeply appreciate the quick and professional response of our Campus Police department, other college personnel, and the assistance of the Framingham Police Department, Framingham Fire Department, and the Massachusetts State Police, all of whom arrived on campus within minutes. A complete search and examination of the building began, the building was cleared for re-entry by late afternoon, and persons who left personal possessions in Hemenway retrieved them.

As reported in The Gatepost in the February 22, 2008 edition, many other security enhancements are being implemented at FSC. These include new in-building alarm systems, outside siren alarms, new blue-light emergency phones, additional security cameras, and continuous co-training and preparation in collaboration with local and state emergency management agencies. As always, however, the single best source of campus safety is awareness and reporting. We are deeply grateful to the student who reported this matter to Campus Police. I urge everyone at FSC to be aware of their surroundings, and to immediately report any matter of concern to the Campus Police. Please remember to program the Campus Police number (508-626-4911) into your cell phone.

The College is offering a reward of $500 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person or persons responsible for this incident. Please contact Campus Police if you believe that you may have information that would be helpful to the investigation. Violence and threats of violence are never appropriate or acceptable on a College campus, and making such threats is a serious legal matter.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to register both your cell phone and text message number and carrier with the FSC Alert Emergency Notification System at: https://framingham.ecoporte.com/emergency/jsp/home/home.jsp. Click both the cell phone icon AND the text message icon and fill in your information. If you have any difficulty adding your numbers, please contact either the student help desk at shd@stumail.frc.mass.edu or, for faculty and staff, helpdesk@frc.mass.edu.

Finally, if you or someone you know needs assistance dealing with anxiety, anger, or other problems, please know that help is available through the College Counseling Center.

Framingham State College is a safe academic community. We all have an important role to play in maintaining the safety of campus. Thank you to everyone in our community for the effective response to Wednesday’s emergency.

Timothy J. Flanagan
President