From the University of Texas at Austin massacre in 1966, to the Columbine shootings of 1999 in Littleton Colorado, and the Virginia Tech massacre this past April; school shootings have increased in both frequency and intensity. School shootings are not the only type of violence that educational institutions have to deal with. Reacting efficiently to bomb threats and addressing general campus safety are also important parts of the university's overall safety program.

Recently, UAF has taken steps to educate the student population about safety risks on campus including releasing a mass e-mail concerning bomb threats. The e-mail told students what to do in the situation that a threat was encountered such as exercising caution before opening suspicious packages, saving threatening emails, and reporting all threatening situations of any nature.

One such situation occurred this past August when the center for distance education at UAF received a bomb threat via e-mail. The police were called, precautions were taken and the e-mail was then sent to the FBI. Authorities said the threat was probably a hoax because of the amateur nature of it.
Vice Chancellor Ro Bailey explained, “The more the assailant talked the more it became evident that they didn’t know what building they were threatening.” Another indication of the falseness of the threat was the fact that other colleges had received bomb threats resembling the one UAF received.

Lieutenant Syrilyn Tong from the UAF police department said, "It is important to treat every threat as a real one. Until all the facts are found and precautions taken threats are treated very seriously." UAF has never received a bomb threat, which is why having two in the past few months is startling and frightening. "Having two bomb threats has raised our percentage 200%." stated Tong.

In response to recent school shootings and the bomb threats, UAF continues to reevaluate its emergency plan. A small committee of department heads gathered to evaluate the plan's effectiveness. As Bailey explains, "The committee looks at what we can change today to keep campus safe in case something were to happen this afternoon."

Every student deals with personal safety every day. Increasing campus safety has been a goal of the university since long before the most recent scare. Since the Sophie Sergie's murder in 1993, UAF has increased security to create a safer campus. According to Bailey, "Our police force cracks down on minor traffic stops on campus. People might think we are trying to annoy them but we have arrested many criminals from the result of a minor traffic stop." Besides an enhanced police presence, the physical infrastructure of the campus has also been made safer. "We try to keep campus well lit, we check lights monthly and replace broken ones" said Tong.

In addition to night lighting, the campus has twenty-nine emergency phones positioned in key locations and UAF provides a 24-7 escort service for anyone who feels unsafe and needs an escort. "I feel UAF is a fairly safe campus, but if there is anything wrong do not hesitate to call us,” said Tong.