About three weeks ago, a regular hellish Monday took a hard turn for the worse when Carleton students, faculty, and staff received a false alert warning of an attacker on campus.
This gave the Carleton community the chance to experience a full range of emotions—from disbelief to panic to confusion.
Tests were disrupted and classes came to a standstill as the foreboding words “active attacker” flashed in red and emergency settings locked computers.
The initial wave of alarm gave way to relief, frustration and cynicism, with community members taking to social media to vent and criticize Carleton’s poor handling of such a sensitive situation.
The initial uproar was met with eerie silence, after the update of the alert being an “oopsie” by those setting up templates for the Emergency Notification System (ENS). And, just when we thought the issue might be brushed under the rug, university president Benoit-Antoine Bacon released a statement.
Now, apart from how vague and tentative the address was, as a communications student, there’s something else that rubbed me the wrong way.
How in the heck did CTV and CBC know what is going on on campus before students, faculty, and staff got an official alert from campus authorities? Why was there no mention of this in the address?
When the alarm first went out, I was with some peers in Richcraft Hall. When we read reports from CTV and CBC on Twitter, one of my classmates said something along the lines of, “What if the attacker is tipping the media off so people come out and he can get more of us?”
I would have chalked it up to her college stress-talking if I didn’t catch chatter akin to this around campus and online. One of my communications professors expressed similar concern and disdain for the communication chain that Carleton displayed. Sure, if one person thought of this, I would say their fear was irrational.
But, when there are multiple people with similar concerns, then I think their concerns hold merit.
How in the heck did CTV and CBC know what is going on on campus before students, faculty, and staff got an official alert from campus authorities?”
– Mariya Mubeen, first-year communications and media studies
The troubling thing is, the address did not even reference this issue. In an actual emergency event, what account holds more merit? Are we to follow what these outlets are reporting during the apparent emergency?
Or, do we outright reject it and wait in petrified horror for ages till an alert comes out?
These may seem like redundant questions to ask. I mean, isn’t it common sense that you shouldn’t believe it until there is an official alert?
To that, I would argue that the lack of rapid communication and information from campus authorities is what leads to people looking for information elsewhere.
This brings me to another point of concern: we don’t know how third-party media outlets got the information about the false alert.
But, if it was from a campus official, shouldn’t the information be sent to students, faculty, and staff first?
The lack of ownership of this issue is what concerns me—and many others—as a member of the Carleton community.
