Updated October 2026Latest round October 19, 2026Dataset v2026.09
The exact words campuses sent in an emergency
Real emergency alerts from US colleges and universities, each kept in the wording that reached the campus and linked to a citable source, beside the published policies that say how each campus will alert. Free for anyone to read.
From the archive
ORIGINAL POST: The Seattle Fire Department is responding to a hazardous materials incident in Fluke Hall, where a liquid nitrogen tank has been reported to be leaking. The tank is believed to be venting in a fairly standard way. Liquid nitrogen is not toxic or flammable and is not believed to pose any danger to individuals, however the area should be avoided while SFD makes its way to the location and does its…
Chosen at build from cases of the last five years · 2 messages in this sequence
Every message on this site is the text a campus sent, cited to where it was found. When a message's wording has not been recovered, the case timeline marks the transmission and shows no text. How wording is verified
This week
Round of Monday, October 19, 2026
Incidents of October 12 – October 18 · 2 cases · 4 verbatim alerts · 2 institutions · 2 states
- Oct 16gas leak1 verbatim alertWVU · WVArena evacuated for a gas smell; a leak is confirmed outside and the gas is shut off
- Oct 15shots fired3 verbatim alertsMiami OH · OHReported gunshots near a campus building prompt an active-threat alert; no gunfire found
Every Monday at 8 AM Eastern the archive posts its round for the week just ended: a curated weekly sample, not a live feed. 299 cases joined the archive in October 2026.
Anything you find here can be kept: save a case or a single alert message as you read, and it collects in a private list. No sign-up needed.
Contents
What is in the archive
7,447 campus emergencies, told through 11,382 alert messages kept word for word, sent by 888 colleges and universities in 55 states and territories, 1969 to 2026. Alongside them, 640 published alert policies.
Every way in, with what each holds today.
Chapters
The archive, chapter by chapter
- Active ShootersThe cases that rewrote the playbook.660 cases
- Bomb Threats & SwattingThe language of uncertainty.230 cases
- Hazardous Materials & InfrastructureWhen the building itself is the threat.772 cases
- Severe WeatherNature's emergencies on campus.2,784 cases
- Interpersonal Violence & Sex OffensesThe timely-warning cases of everyday campus safety.1,239 cases
- Property CrimeThe everyday work of the timely warning.674 cases
- Missing PersonsA distinct alert genre under HEOA 2008.18 cases
- Other EmergenciesEdge cases that reveal the most.1,070 cases
Coverage
Where the record comes from
55 states & territories documented · stronger blue = more cases · tap any tile to see its cases
| State/Territory | Cases |
|---|---|
| CA | 971 |
| OH | 598 |
| PA | 507 |
| NY | 457 |
| NC | 454 |
| TX | 370 |
| SC | 327 |
| FL | 324 |
| MA | 259 |
| WA | 250 |
| AZ | 228 |
| IL | 198 |
| GA | 195 |
| MI | 180 |
| VA | 177 |
| IA | 161 |
| DC | 149 |
| LA | 135 |
| MD | 116 |
| MN | 114 |
| MO | 110 |
| IN | 96 |
| NJ | 91 |
| AL | 75 |
| TN | 74 |
| RI | 73 |
| KY | 72 |
| OR | 63 |
| UT | 56 |
| KS | 55 |
| OK | 53 |
| CO | 52 |
| WI | 47 |
| MS | 46 |
| CT | 37 |
| WV | 32 |
| NE | 28 |
| HI | 23 |
| AR | 21 |
| NH | 21 |
| ME | 18 |
| PR | 18 |
| NM | 16 |
| ND | 15 |
| SD | 12 |
| ID | 11 |
| VT | 11 |
| NV | 10 |
| AK | 9 |
| WY | 9 |
| MT | 9 |
| VI | 5 |
| DE | 5 |
| MP | 3 |
| GU | 1 |
Cases documented here, per state and territory. Shading follows this collection’s coverage, not risk. Each tile opens that state’s cases.
Editor’s note
Scope of the collection
This is a curated collection, not a census. It holds the campus alerts the archive has found and verified, which is a floor on what was sent, never a count of what happened. An entry is an alert only if the campus transmitted it; press statements, responder write-ups, and news prose never qualify. Counts on this site describe this collection, not the sector, and nothing here substitutes for an institution’s own Clery reporting.
The dataset
Take the data with you
The archive exports as CSV, Excel, or JSON, one row per case or one per message, with a source link on every confirmed message. The codebook, the archive citation, and the license are on the dataset page.
7,447 cases · no sign-up · released September 2026
Why this exists
Humans set the standard. AI did the work.
This Campus Alert Archive demonstrates that a human (a non-coder!) can direct publicly available AI tools, on ordinary monthly subscriptions, to pour large, sustained amounts of effort into building and steadily improving a single focused project over time. Read more about why this exists.
Kevin Pisciella sets the standard and merges every change. Behind the confirmed messages sits an evidence ledger of 14,431 lines in 1,794 batches, 14,295 of them carrying a hash of the committed text and 438 a Wayback snapshot.