When the alarm went off in the Florida Gym Tuesday, it was chaotic. There were no direct instructions other than the standard fire alarm the building is equipped with. All the message said was to evacuate the building. Students and faculty lingered because no one was given instructions.
The professors were just as lost as students on what to do because the police were not helping organize the situation. One of my classmates called the University Police Department, and they said there was a bomb threat. As I was walking, I saw several officers in their cars just sitting there. There didn't seem to be enough officers at the scene taking care of the situation.
I feel like there was a complete failure to keep us safe. There have been several incidents at other schools this year, and every time President Bernie Machen tells us that UF has a system in place. Last semester, we gave the university our cell phone numbers so they could text-message us if there was an emergency. There is also supposed to be information on the UF Web site, and we are supposed to receive e-mail messages. There seems to be two logical explanations to why this system didn't work: they did not consider the situation an emergency or the system failed.
Maybe it is only an emergency when students or faculty are injured, but it seems when someone threatens to blow up a building on campus, it is worth informing students about immediately. The way UPD took care of the situation made it seem like this was the first bomb threat it has ever encountered. As a citizen, I expect police officers to provide me with the necessary information to keep me safe. Instead, the situation was chaotic and disorganized. The university needs to take a closer look at the emergency preparedness plan because after today, I truly question its ability to keep anyone safe.
