Audio clip
Chuck Cantrell
When Angie Overton heard about a bomb threat at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Thursday afternoon, she thought administrators were checking the new emergency text messaging system.
“We were just discussing whether this was a test of it to see if it really worked, if it was a fake bomb threat,” said the 32-year-old graduate student.
The bomb threat was not a test — the university received a threat regarding Grote Hall about 2 p.m. — but campus officials said UTC Alert, which they used to inform students of the incident, worked efficiently.
“They seemed to go through very quickly,” Chuck Cantrell, assistant vice chancellor, said of the messages. “It seemed to work perfectly.”
In all, seven campus buildings and about 400 students were evacuated, authorities said. The Chattanooga Police Department’s bomb squad, the Chattanooga Fire Department and UTC Police responded to campus and closed most of Vine Street.
Upon sweeping Grote Hall, located at Vine and Baldwin streets, searchers found nothing, fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said. University administrators gave the all-clear shortly before 3:30 p.m. through UTC Alert, and classes resumed as normal.
Students began signing up for the system Tuesday, though they did not expect it to be used so soon.
“I didn’t think they were gonna turn it on until April,” said freshman Andrew Clark, 18.
Mr. Clark said he received two alerts about the bomb threat, one explaining the initial threat and one alerting students about building evacuations. He also received alerts via e-mail, he said.
Graduate student Courtney Crittenden, 23, said she had not yet signed up for UTC Alert, but she planned to after Thursday’s episode. She said the text messaging system allows those without immediate access to e-mail to receive alerts.
“I mean, you always have your phone on you, so it is a nice little feature,” she said.
The university had scheduled a test of the system April 2. Mr. Cantrell said officials discussed implementing the system before the Virginia Tech killings last April, but they clearly understood the need for it after that event.
“Virginia Tech made it more clear to campuses across the country that you have to have multiple ways to communicate with your students and your faculty and staff in the event of an emergency,” he said Tuesday.
The system sends both e-mail and text message alerts to designated devices during imminent threats. Students, faculty and staff can sign up online through UTC’s Web site.
Even those who had not signed up for UTC Alert benefited from the system. Sophomore Brandon Hayes, 20, was sitting in the library when librarians told him to evacuate. He also received a text message about it from a friend, he said.
“Apparently someone is finding out from some kind of alert system,” Mr. Hayes said while standing among a group of students gathered in front of the Boling Apartments on Douglas Street, “and letting everyone else know through text messages.”
