When a test rocket exploded near the University of Idaho Steam Plant in April 2017, UI officials sent a Vandal Alert to students and faculty nearly an hour after the incident.
An internal review report released in May 2017 found the alert “significantly delayed” and “did not include adequate information.” The alert read: “Explosion occurred on Moscow Campus. Responders on scene. Avoid Area. More information will follow.”
Fifty minutes after the explosion, students received the alert.
When Goodwill received a landmine — later found to be inactive — from the WWII era in September 2018, UI officials sent out an alert reading: “A suspicious package has been found near the Goodwill … Please avoid the area until MPD has cleared the scene.”
When a man allegedly brandished a gun at another man during an argument in August 2018 at the development site of the Identity Moscow apartments, UI officials sent out an alert which read: “alleged weapons offense in Moscow area. Police are actively investigating. Please exercise caution. For on campus SAFEWALK call 208-885-7054.”
Last week, UI officials received backlash after sending out a Vandal Alert referencing information from a dated police report. The alert, sent Wednesday, cites material from a Nov. 4 police report in which Denise Bennett, a tenured journalism professor at UI, admitted to police she used methamphetamine the day before.
The alert reads: “Denise Bennett has been barred from Moscow Campus. Recent admittance to police of meth use and access to firearms. If seen on campus, call 911.”
Bennett was placed on administrative leave following “unprofessional conduct” with College of Letters Arts and Social Sciences Dean Sean Quinlan and another employee, according to the terms and conditions of her leave, which she shared via livestream Jan. 29.
UI issued the alert hours in advance of a sit-in protest organized by students in support of Bennett. Walker said there was no immediate threat to campus when the alert was sent. UI President Chuck Staben has denied the alert was sent out to squash the protest.
Walker also said the information included in the alert was “brought to the university’s attention” through the police report.
The report details a domestic dispute Bennett allegedly had with her husband Nov. 4. No criminal charges were pressed and the case was closed that night.
Walker said the follow-up alert, which included a link to a memo by President Chuck Staben and Provost John Wiencek, was a “thoughtful and thorough reflection on the intent of the decision we made.” But she said the university also does “recognize there is room to improve the timeliness of follow-up communications in the future.”
The follow-up alert was sent out nearly 24 hours after the initial alert at 10:04 a.m. Thursday. The initial alert was sent out 10:51 a.m. Wednesday.
In the email memo, Staben and Wiencek said the university chose to “communicate very specifically and directly to our university and community.”
Walker said Staben approved both alerts, which is standard procedure for most Vandal Alerts.
Emma Williams, a second-year UI student, was taken aback by the contents of the Vandal Alert Wednesday, initially fearing safety concerns about going to class. She said her mother texted her when the alert first went out, asking her what was going on and if she was safe. The follow-up Vandal Alert did not do much to abate her concerns.
“It was a little slow on the uptake and they should have released a bigger email, especially targeted at parents saying that their children are safe,” Williams said on a recent walk home from class. “Some of us are like 20, like I am, and they’re still concerned about their kids.”
Williams said the alert initially made her worry about her safety going to class. She said, once she knew she was safe, the alert prompted thoughts that the alerts should undergo more review before being sent out.
“It was a little disconcerting,” she said.
Ryan Benson, administrator of the Facebook page “Students for Denise” and an organizer of the walk-out held last week, said he “had no doubt in my mind that it had to do with our protest in at least some regard.”
Staben, in a rare appearance before Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday, said the alert was not meant to squash the protest.
“The way the alert was written presented a clear and immediate danger to campus,” Benson said. “Chuck Staben himself may as well have walked around campus with a bullhorn screaming ‘active shooter.’ The effect was the same.”
He also said parents were worried and that students feared for their safety after the initial alert. But he said he felt that the initial alert wasn’t true.
“I had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right,” Benson said. “The picture that was painted in that 156 character message was not my professor. It was not my mentor. It was a false and inflammatory statement engineered to cause panic.”
Benson levied more displeasure with the UI administration’s response.
“At no time have I felt that Chuck Staben, or his administrative team, have attempted to reach out to concerned students, upset staff, or in any way attempt to level with the general population of campus to truly explain their apparent concern for student and staff safety.”
When asked if the same Vandal Alert would be issued given a similar situation, Staben said at the Faculty Senate that the information which was released in the case of Denise Bennett was relevant, and if given the same instance again, the same choice would be made.
Kyle Pfannenstiel can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @pfannyyy