Campus Alert Archive
Seven Chapters,
One Archive
The archive is large and the cases repeat each other in instructive ways. These seven chapters group every case by incident genre so the patterns (the language of uncertainty, the 131-minute delay, the all-clear that comes too soon) surface where you can read them across institutions and decades.
Chapter 1
Active Shooters
The cases that rewrote the playbook.
If a single incident can be said to have created the modern campus alert, it is the Virginia Tech shooting of April 16, 2007. A 22-year-old student killed two people in West Ambler Johnston Hall at 7:15 AM. The first…
- W&LShelter-in-place after armed-person report at neighboring VMI; later unfounded
- UWShooting near 45th and University Way prompts avoid-area alerts
- TempleShooting on the 900 block of Diamond Street
Chapter 2
Bomb Threats & Swatting
The language of uncertainty.
Bomb threats and swatting calls force a problem that active-shooter alerts never have: the threat is almost always not real, and the institution knows that statistically as it composes the message. The alerts in this…
- UNCBomb threat empties a football stadium; police clear the scene after several hours
- UOTelephoned bomb threat clears the track stadium a day before the NCAA championships
- NAUBomb threat, May 14, 2026
Chapter 3
Hazardous Materials & Infrastructure
When the building itself is the threat.
Gas leaks, chemical spills, infrastructure failures, and fires occupy a quieter corner of this archive (165 cases, a fraction of the active-shooter chapter's total) but they are also the genre where institutional alert…
- IllinoisRoof fire prompts a brief evacuation order at a law school building; no injuries reported
- USCCampus police vehicle fire blocking Hoover Street
- USCCampus police structure fire at 1400 Los Palos Street
Chapter 4
Severe Weather
Nature's emergencies on campus.
Weather is the genre that taught American universities how to communicate over hours and days, not seconds and minutes. The 195 cases in this chapter document tornado warnings, hurricane evacuations, severe storms,…
- CornellAir quality advisory as regional AQI exceeds 150 from wildfire smoke
- ClemsonSevere storm and high-wind warnings force Memorial Stadium sheltering before gates open
- IU BloomingtonTornado warnings prompt SEEK SHELTER NOW alerts for Bloomington campus area
Chapter 5
Interpersonal Violence & Sex Offenses
The timely-warning cases of everyday campus safety.
The 413 cases in this chapter all sit under one Clery Act category, the timely warning, and that legal category is the reason the chapter exists as a discrete genre. A timely warning is not the same thing as an…
- UMDOff-campus armed robbery on Baltimore Avenue near College Park
- UMNStabbing at Dinkytown apartments with knife-wielding suspect description
- UWStabbing near University Way prompts suspect description and tip line
Chapter 6
Missing Persons
A distinct alert genre under HEOA 2008.
The 17 cases in this chapter are a small but distinct corner of the archive. Missing-student notifications are governed by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), not by the Clery Act, and the legal…
- UMaineEmergency notification for missing-person search near campus
- PrincetonMissing undergraduate sought after last seen near main library; remains found days later
- MizzouStudent went missing on a fraternity trip; body recovered from a river two weeks later
Chapter 7
Other Emergencies
Edge cases that reveal the most.
The 326 cases in this chapter are the ones that don't fit cleanly into any of the other six categories: police activity that was not active-shooter or armed-person, building lockdowns triggered by something other than a…
- UWRabid bat on University Way prompts contact medical evaluation advisory
- UNC-Chapel HillExtreme heat warning with campus hydration and outdoor-activity guidance
- LSC-TomballOverheard rifle threat in the library prompts 30-minute lockdown; no weapon found