The Political And Civic Engagement program presented a discussion Oct. 25 called “Is IU Notify working for us?” It was part of the group’s weekly Free Speech Fridays series at the IU Theater and Drama building.
Students discussed the handling of the Oct.13 Brickhouse shooting. The shooting occurred outside a property owned by Indiana University. Two people were shot and hospitalized, including an IU freshman.
An “IU-Notify” notification was not sent to alert students and families about the shooting due to existing protocol. The protocol specifies that notifications are not required for off-campus situations where there is not an ongoing danger, according to previous Indiana Daily Student reporting.
At the Free Speech Friday event, sophomore Andrew Stewart said he thinks the standard for sending IU-Notify alerts should keep all IU students safe, not just people who live on campus.
“If you want to help guarantee people stay alive off-campus, they should send a notification,” Stewart said.
There was also discussion on why the situation was not ruled an ongoing threat when it was believed there was more than one shooter and only one was arrested.
Freshman Maddy Morningstar said it looks to her like it was an error that an IU-Notify was not sent.
“This can be a good excuse for IU to rethink the way they evaluate dangerous situations so this never happens again,” she said.
Senior Gabe Donnelly, who was leading the talk today, said IU should also consider that RPS housing now extends off campus for students originally assigned to live in McNutt and Foster.
IU sophomore Rebekah Amaya said she believes this situation is just another case of the university not taking enough action.
“I feel like we just keep having to fight the administration,” Amaya said. “Shouldn’t they be fighting for us?”
Maddie Dederichs, IUSG director of student life, said she just wishes the IU-Notify situation was handled better altogether.
“I can be desensitized to phone notifications, but I can never be desensitized to gun violence,” Dederichs said.
