Editor’s note: This version of the story includes the time of the home invasion near the college and an email sent by President Kojo Quartey after the incident. This also clarifies the communication issue related to professor Edmund La Clair and clarifies the section on timely notifications.
Delayed notifications and trouble communicating with MCCC security have become more prominent with recent events concerning campus safety.
These events include a recent home invasion near the college, gunshots heard near campus, and alert buttons accidentally being set off.
The home invasion on Oct. 25 began as a male employee of the Monroe County Intermediate School District was outside the building acting erratically around 1 p.m., according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. The man eventually walked off school grounds and into a nearby home on South Raisinville Road where he barricaded himself in a bedroom with a woman who was home at the time.
The ISD, which is located adjacent to MCCC, locked down its campus, and Sgt. Jason Miller, a Monroe police officer assigned to the ISD, said the Monroe County Middle College was immediately notified. However, MCCC campus security was not notified.
“We knew we had them boxed in to a certain location and that they weren’t going to get out,” said Jeff Hooper, a detective with the Monroe Police Department.
The entire incident, including the time of arrest, took no more than 30 minutes, Miller said.
“They (MCCC) haven’t worked with us on their protocols,” Miller said. “I can tell you the Middle College has because they are a part of the ISD.”
MCCC President Kojo Quartey sent out an email at 1:42 p.m. to employees that said Safety Services had secured the north entrance, and there was no danger to campus.
The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to issue a timely warning notice to notify students and employees when a serious crime has happened on or adjacent to campus, presenting a continuing threat to the campus that would require taking precautions to provide safety. A spokesperson on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education said when incidents occur within a one-mile radius, notifications are made if the incident takes place on public property. This would include the Monroe County ISD, as it is public property.
“It is up to your institution to determine when to issue a Timely Warning or Emergency Notification,” Campus Safety Help said in an email. “A decision must be made on a case-by-case basis in light of all the available facts surrounding a crime or emergency.”
According to Campus Safety Help, institutions are required to notify students and employees upon confirmation of an emergency or dangerous situation that poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of those on campus.
Timely warnings at MCCC are to be issued by the vice president of Finance and Administration, or a designee, during a situation that could pose a threat to the health or safety of students or employees, according to the college’s Annual Security Report.
At the same time as the home invasion, while working in the Writing Center on Oct. 25, writing fellow Sierra Seidelman accidentally pressed one of the new alert buttons installed in all offices and classrooms across campus, which was sitting on top of the desk. She said she immediately informed another co-worker and called security to inform them of the false alarm.
“We called twice. Both times the mailbox was full so we could not inform them ahead of time,” Seidelman said. “We waited for someone to come. Around 4 p.m., when I was getting ready to leave for the day, security came by and said, ‘We got your alert and is there anything wrong in here?’”
Seidelman says it was close to three hours before security arrived. It was this time lapse that troubles her.
“They said they just got the alert,” she said. “They said they were dealing with another incident at another building down the street and were worried they would be coming to the campus. They said it was a disgruntled employee and they were dealing with that incident.”
Troy Cox, chief of Safety Services, said on the day of the incident at the ISD, his staff was monitoring what was going on by making and receiving phone calls.
“I was told that some staff also were having trouble with their phones so I assume due to the police incident that the cell tower may have been overwhelmed,” Cox said in an email. “Just speculating because I have seen that happen before. The button did alert our phone. Our phone is active 24 hours a day.”
Cox said his staff does not respond to incidents off campus and none of his staff were off campus on that day.
Curtis Creagh, vice president of Finance and Administration, said he was not sure of what happened the day of the home invasion but security monitors the radios to get information.
“My understanding is that they are picking up those phones when they’re called and we have instituted when the chief or whomever has the phone when after hours, the phone rolls over to a phone that is manned 24 hours,” Creagh said. “Even at home if there was an emergency or something and if you dial that number, you should get a response. I’m not sure what happened that day but certainly that’s one of those things that we want to make sure the phones are being answered.”
When it comes to sending out campus alerts, Creagh said the alerts are sent via his office and there are three different options – text, telephone and email.
“You can sign up there and then when things happen, those alert systems go out to whatever device that you chose so if you chose all three of them, then you should get that kind of alert when things go out and a message is sent,” he said.
In September, the college announced the installation of 335 alert buttons in classrooms and offices. President Kojo Quartey said these were installed to enhance safety.
“Once activated, campus safety will proceed immediately to the location where the alert button was activated,” Quartey said. “Safety is priority one. They make our campus safer.”
Seidelman said she was unaware of what the alert button looked like.
“We were told by Lori Jo Couch they were near or on the desk, but we were not told what they looked like,” Seidelman said. “We were never trained with them. Honestly, I thought it would be located under the desk or attached to the wall and not located on top of the desk. I wasn’t aware of what it actually looked like.”
Lori Jo Couch, assistant professor of English and director of the Writing Center, said she previously talked about the alert buttons in a writing fellow meeting and all the buttons have instructions cards with them. They are located in the tutoring rooms and there is one in the main room.
Couch said the instruction cards say to call security if the button is accidentally activated and described security’s delayed response as “puzzling.”
Cox said the alert buttons were purchased specifically for staff/faculty because they requested them.
“That is why you haven’t received any training on them, nor should students be pushing the buttons if they don’t know what they are for,” Cox said. “The staff hasn’t received any training on them yet also.”
He said the program is not fully functional yet and there are still “some bugs being worked out.”
“The president will put out an email (campuswide) when the program is totally up and running,” Cox said.
Quartey sent an email Thursday, Nov. 14, to MCCC employees announcing the alert buttons have been activated.
Cox sent a follow-up email to say the buttons are programmed for specific rooms and when a text comes through their phone, it identifies a classroom number with the building.
“Each building has a central control console for all of the buttons in that building. So, with that being said, if you move the button from your classroom and push it, we will still be responding to the classroom indicated,” Cox said in an email.
Seidelman said this isn’t the first time a button has accidentally been pushed.
“I know this isn’t the first time someone has accidentally clicked the alert button. I know teachers have done it because of its improper location,” she said. “I was in class and I know professor (Mark) Bergmooser accidentally set it off and security came instantly to talk to him.”
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, at approximately 2:15 p.m., shots fired were heard near campus. Seidelman, along with writing fellows Gabby Forrester and Linda Bubenko, were told about the shots from adjunct professor Bernhard Sulzer.
“Gabby, Linda and I were there. Gabby happened to talk with the professor,” Seidelman said. “He said, ‘I have to leave right now because I have to teach a class.’”
Seidelman and two other students entered professor Edmund La Clair’s office for safety. La Clair, associate professor of history, called campus security twice but no one answered the call. The mailbox on the first call instructed him to leave a message. La Clair said he called the direct cell phone number in case it was a real emergency, and he was quickly answered.
He later received a call from Cox telling him security had been out checking the campus. There was no incident on campus and the shots came from a farmer in the area.
“If something were to happen on campus, shots were fired on campus via someone nearby or if it were somebody who actually came to attack campus or somebody on it, how are you going to be able to spread information between security and what you already know?” Seidelman said about being unable to contact security. “What were we to do? We’re kind of sitting ducks.”
Other concerns involving campus safety:
The Agora has previously reported on incidents involving safety concerns on campus and a lack of communication.
Bomb threat — In an article published by the Agora on April 11, 2023, Joe Verkennes, director of marketing and communications, said he saw a comment posted on the college’s social media regarding a possible bomb threat and contacted his supervisor, vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success Scott Behrens.
Law enforcement was notified and the campus was searched. However, former Chief of Safety Services Charlie Abel said he was not contacted during the incident.
Following the incident, Quartey sent an email to MCCC students declaring a possible bomb threat posted on social media to be noncredible.
“I don’t know why we were intentionally left out of the matter,” Abel told the Agora in a later interview prior to his retirement. “Had I been contacted, there are a lot of procedures we could have gone through.”
Abel said his plan was to help security with a smooth transition, but he resigned shortly after the bomb threat. He said he and his office were not utilized properly and to their capabilities.
At the time of the incident, Quartey maintained he did the right thing by notifying 911.
H Building fire — On Nov. 10, 2023, the Agora reported on a delayed electrical fire emergency response due to annual testing. The incident occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m. on July 28.
Faculty and students evacuated the H Building after an electrical fire broke out in a computer lab. They were unaware the building’s fire alarm was set to “test” due to the annual system maintenance and the Monroe Township Fire Department was not going to respond.
Approximately 15 minutes after the fire was detected, Helen Stripling, dean of Health Sciences and director of respiratory therapy, called 911 at 11:45 a.m. An MCCC incident report states Nicole Garner, professor of nursing, called Safety Services at 11:48 a.m. and informed security there was an actual fire. Monroe Township Fire Department responded at approximately 11:51 a.m. It was later determined a light fixture caught fire.
The article further states after the fire, Garner and Stripling asked for a debriefing about the fire’s events. The meeting was scheduled for Sept. 14 by Vice President of Finance and Administration Curtis Creagh.
Garner communicated she had a scheduling conflict and assumed the meeting would be rescheduled. The debrief happened without Garner and Stripling being present.
