Hillary Weiss

Adrian, Mich. -In wake of the Newton, CT school shooting, there have been increased questioning about safety procedures at Siena Heights University (SHU).Cindy Birdwell, the Director Public Safety and Campus Event Management at SHU, suggests that SHU is safe and is making strides to be ready for emergencies.

Birdwell encouraged members of the SHU community to view the Public Safety webpage. Listed are the different types of emergencies and how to react to the crisis. For example, if there was an active shooter on campus, the person who knows about it should contact 911 or SHU Public Safety (ext: Adrian Campus: ‘0’ or ‘7800,’ and off campus: 517-264-7800) immediately and treat the injured.

In these types of emergencies, a SHU Alert would be sent out to people who are signed up. Birdwell described SHU Alerts as “a mass communication text based system.” “We are only going to send you critical messages. It’s not going to be about a bake sale or a lost kitten like the ones that high schools send out. You need to pay attention to these.”

In addition to SHU Alerts, SHU Public Safety works very closely with the Adrian Police Department and has retired and current police officers working on campus. However, there is no one armed on campus.

But students have differing opinions about SHU’s safety. Myriah*, a SHU student, disclosed that in October 2012, “a driver with hostile intent was following [them] into the parking lot. Thankfully, the driver drove off when he or she saw how many people there were in the car. Someone went to tell [SHU Public Safety]. However, it took public safety ten minutes to get out to the car.”

Additionally, there are mixed opinions regarding how regularly student IDs are checked after 10 p.m. Jeff Scroggins acknowledges that there was once at 3 a.m. when he was asked for an ID. But other times, he was not. “I’ve came in a lot of nights later than 1 a.m. and [even] as late as 6 a.m. and [I was] not asked.”

Birdwell says that every year they review getting an access control device for the buildings, a device that would have students slide their student IDs in order to get into a building after curfew. “Last year we got cameras in the Residential Halls that are in all of the halls and on the doors. We [a committee] are working towards getting access control. We didn’t expect to get the cameras as soon as we did, so it could be in a few years.”

To sign up for SHU Alerts, either text the word “Adrian” to 79516 or follow “@shualerts” on Twitter. You can also sign up for SHU Alerts by visiting the SHU Campus Safety page . SHU Alerts also has a YouTube channel shualerts.

*Spectra allows students to decide if they wish to only use their first names in articles that are of a sensitive nature.  Due to the size of the Adrian campus, it’s Spectra’s editorial policy to protect student’s privacy and dignity whenever possible, while at the same time maintaining a high standard of reporting that allows multiple perspectives to be addressed.*