Campus message regarding the April 21st shelter-in-place

Chancellor Carol Christ, Chancellor and Catherine Koshland, interim executive vice chancellor and provost, sent the following message to the campus community:

We have heard from many of you about the emotional impact of the April 21st shelter-in-place event, along with questions and concerns about campus emergency response efforts that day.

Please know that we hear you and we are taking your concerns and comments to heart.

Although no one was physically injured during the event, we recognize that the level of anxiety, and in some cases, pain, caused by this event varied based on a number of factors including your location on campus that day, any prior experience with violence, and any connection to the individual involved in the event. And, for many, the waiting and wondering, without more specific information about what was occurring and what to do while sheltering in place, was especially difficult.

As with every major emergency, we, along with other campus leaders and some individual campus units, are conducting assessments of the campus response effort and identifying lessons learned that will be applied to our future emergency response.

We would like to share with you more detailed information about transparency, privacy protection, campus management of threats, and finding support. Please see that information on this campus web page.

At this time we also want to acknowledge the harrowing experience that several members of our campus community went through on Monday when a fire occurred at a building in the Anna Head complex near campus. We are grateful there were no physical injuries and thankful for the fire and police departments’ prompt response, including the safe evacuation of those inside. The cause of the fire is under investigation and the building has sustained damage. Campus officials have reached out to those impacted by the fire, to provide support including identifying space needs and arranging temporary accommodations.