Dear students, faculty and staff,
I am writing to you this morning to provide more information on an incident that occurred yesterday on our campus.
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the people who discovered a potentially dangerous situation yesterday and reported it immediately. While I know campus safety is a prime responsibility of campus leadership, we most certainly need everyone to be our eyes and ears. Please do remember, “see something, say something.”
With respect to the incident, at approximately 1 p.m., the University Police Department learned of a message written on a wall inside a women’s restroom on the third floor of Dudley Moorhead Hall. The message suggested a shooting would occur at 5 p.m. UPD took the threat seriously and immediately opened an investigation with assistance from the San Jose Police Department and others.
After preliminary assessments, campus leadership concluded that it was unlikely the threat was credible. For this reason, we decided that classes should remain in session and business continue as usual. Nonetheless, UPD took extra precautions by increasing police presence in and around DMH. As the investigation continues, UPD will remain on alert.
As the situation evolved, we shared available information via Alert SJSU. I know that many of you wanted to know more: faculty and students wondered if it was safe to go to class, and staff considered closing our business offices. During an incident like this, we always consider how to tell everyone what they need to know so that we can keep our campus community safe. This is a topic my leadership team takes seriously, and we will be further evaluating yesterday’s actions.
In closing, I know yesterday was difficult for many on our campus. Please send your feedback to my office at sjsupres@sjsu.edu. Your thoughts, concerns, and ideas will continue to help us shape our next steps.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mary A. Papazian, President