Three hours after the bomb threats were made last November, Ric Bell, the director of Risk Management, had a decision to make on how to inform the Loyola community.
After determining that the bomb threats that FBI agents say student Evelyn Hubbard made were not credible, Bell and the other Risk Management staff members decided not to evacuate the university because they did not want to incite chaos and panic in the Loyola community.
Under Loyola’s current emergency plan structure, Bell made this decision after consulting with the police, who had searched the building for a bomb and did not find a threat.
Come later this month, Bell will have someone else to consult with for emergency planning.
The university has hired an emergency manager and will implement the Office of Emergency Management. The name of the emergency manager will be released Feb. 27.
The position of an emergency manager was created in part because of previous threats to other universities.
University President the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., said he believes that Virginia Tech is the “best example” Loyola can use to prepare against future emergencies.
In regards to shootings, Virginia Tech has been a university for other institutions to learn from, Bell said. He believes that preparedness is essential to prevent or reduce these situations.
The Office of Emergency Management will assist Risk Management in reviewing systems, educating the Loyola community and improving communication, Wildes said.
Wildes said that certain changes have been made in monitoring systems in response to the recent threats but the new position of emergency manager goes back more than a year.
Bell said that Hubbard’s threats were made to an unmonitored email account and were not opened until 10:45 a.m. The emails were sent at 9 and 9:30 a.m. Nov. 17, 2011. The university had a plan in place to respond to that type of threat if it was deemed credible.
Bell explained that Loyola has a crisis communication plan to notify the Loyola community by voice, email and/or text in emergency situations.
“The emergency manager will work with University Police, public affairs, the Emergency Management Team and the president to refine and exercise that plan,” Bell said.
Overall, Bell said he believes Loyola handled the bomb threat well.
“Part of my job is to ensure a safe environment for students and employees to work, study and learn,” Bell said.
Lucy Dieckhaus can be reached at [email protected].
