To declare Monday a failure is a clear misunderstanding of the big picture by The Reveille. The first priority was to effectively communicate the threat to the campus community and to the clear the buildings, which was done quickly and efficiently. While traffic is an issue to be considered, the greatest threat to life was explosive devices in buildings.
The fact remains that a great majority of the campus was cleared in 80 to 90 minutes. Some parts of the campus were clear in less than an hour. It is true some outlying areas of campus to the north were not clear for approximately two hours. The Reveille’s assertion of four hours is ludicrous. LSU Police used time-stamped photos to verify times, as opposed to The Reveille’s research method of choice: Facebook, Twitter and a web poll of 265 people.
Most baffling is this statement by The Reveille: “As late as 1:30 p.m., students were tweeting pictures of cars still in line on Highland Road and reflecting on the four hours they had spent in their cars with no luck getting anywhere.”
The evacuation notice was sent at 11:30 a.m., so at 1:30 p.m. the evacuation had been underway only two hours. To sit in a car for four hours, these students would have had to leave at 9:30 a.m., a full two hours before the evacuation notice was issued. The Reveille’s timeline does not equate.
The Reveille also asserts that campus leadership has ignored the problem of traffic. That is not true. In multiple interviews conducted after the event, LSU officials have repeatedly said there were traffic issues and that the successes and challenges of the day would be reviewed to improve in case it happens again. There is no ignoring that there were problems with the traffic.
Also, the initial text message, while clearly effective, was not as specific in its instructions as it could have been. It should have been specific that the entire campus should be evacuated and apparently should have suggested that walking rather than driving was an alternative. That, too, will be reviewed and addressed.
The Reveille says, “Our leaders are endlessly patting each other’s expensive suit-covered backs.”
I am not sure what the cost of clothing has to do with this situation, but the congratulations that were spread around at Wednesday’s press conference had to do with the capture in less than 48 hours of the perpetrator who called in the bomb threat.
Congratulations to LSU Police and their supporting law enforcement agencies for efficient police work were certainly in order.
What we can all agree on is The Reveille’s statement, “We cannot consider Monday a victory.”
No one declared it a victory. There are no winners in a situation like this. It was neither a football game nor a political race. It was an emergency situation in which the campus population responded quickly and patiently to effective communication, and, fortunately, no one was hurt.
From every emergency, we all learn lessons. We are fortunate that this emergency resulted in no loss of life, and, at the same time, made us all aware of challenges that will prepare us if consequences turn out to be more critical in a future similar situation.
Herb Vincent
Associate Vice Chancellor/ University Relations
This letter is in response to The Reveille’s editorial “One hour and 20 minutes is a lie, Monday a failure.”
