(Editor’s Note: This message from Charlotte Johnson, vice president and dean of the college, and Bill Ferguson, director of campus safety, was sent Tuesday to the Colgate community.)
We would like to provide you with more information about the emergency situation that occurred on campus earlier today. An individual inside a car near the Oak Drive entrance to campus attempted to harm himself, which made it necessary for local law enforcement officials to surround the car in order to contain the situation. The individual was not a member of the Colgate community, and the situation was resolved peacefully.
Though law enforcement officials expected the emergency to be contained to Oak Drive, as a precaution we advised faculty, staff, and students to remain in their buildings until the situation was resolved. In addition, all entrances to campus were closed.
The university’s emergency response plan includes a number of communications tools to inform the campus community quickly and effectively prior to, during, and following an emergency. Today, we utilized the Campus Alert email system, as well as the Informacast recorded message system over campus telephones.
We appreciate the cooperation and patience of all those present on campus during this emergency. That cooperation helped to ensure the safety of community members as law enforcement worked to resolve the situation.
Per our protocol, we will be reviewing and evaluating our response to today’s events as we work to refine our emergency protocols and procedures.
As you may be aware, on Thursday at 12:15 p.m., we are scheduled to test our outdoor emergency alert system. That protocol would not have been utilized for today’s incident.