Stay Informed!
The university has a number of ways to communicate to the campus community during an emergency situation and it's important that you take an active role in staying informed.
The university has nine emergency sirens that are stationed across campus. When you hear the siren, it means two things — seek shelter and seek information. Hear it for yourself and get to know this sound.
How can I seek information?
- Keep Banner Updated. Staying informed starts with keeping your emergency contact information updated so the Emergency Management Team (EMT) can contact you through our mass notification system in the event of an emergency. This system, which sends out notifications through text messages and email, is utilized to inform you about campus-wide emergencies, natural disasters and closings for inclement weather. Students, faculty and staff can easily update this information through Banner.
- Tweet Up! In addition to the vehicles above, the emergency notification system is linked with the William & Mary News Facebook page and the William & Mary News Twitter page. In the event of an emergency, messages will also be posted on these social media sites. All members of the general public are invited to follow these pages to stay informed about news involving the university.
- www.wm.edu. In the event of an emergency, alerts will also be posted on the university's home page. This will continue to be updated each time a message is sent to the campus community. In the event the university's website is down, the William & Mary News Facebook page will serve as the back-up page for emergency information. This is available to all members of the community.
Will there always be a message sent at the same time as the siren?
In most cases, the sounding of the sirens will be combined with a message with information about the emergency. In some occasions involving imminent danger, it may be necessary to sound the siren before an official EMT notification is sent out to the community. That includes (but not limited to):
- Tornado spotted near campus.
- Shots fired on campus.
- Explosion on campus.
In all cases, the EMT will issue a notice as soon as possible regarding an emergency situation through the outlets described above. Please do your best to stay informed.
