President Keel Sends Message to Campus Community

December 5, 2014

Around 8:00 a.m., officials at Georgia Southern University received a report of a suspicious person dressed in dark clothing and a mask walking inside of the Math, Physics and old Biology building.  The Office of Public Safety, along with local and regional teams responded immediately, cordoning off the area and evacuating the building in an effort to locate this person and ascertain any potential danger to our campus community.  In an abundance of caution, students, faculty, and staff were notified to shelter in place if in the building, or to avoid the area.  Many buildings were locked down as a precaution and did so at the discretion of the individual building coordinators, which is according to our procedures for such an event. Upon further thorough investigation, it was confirmed that a student wore the mask as a prank and did not intend to cause alarm.  No weapon of any kind was involved in the incident. At approximately 12:30 p.m., the University issued an all clear.  Officials from the Office of Public Safety will continue to investigate the incident.  Classes have resumed in the Math, Physics and old Biology building and the University is operating as normal.  Students who were unable to attend classes will be allowed to make up any missed work, as a result of this incident. I realize that the circumstances of this event may have caused concern and alarm and may have inconvenienced some.  However, the safety of our students, faculty, and staff is always paramount in our thinking and in our actions. I would like to offer my sincere appreciation to the campus community for remaining calm and acting accordingly during this situation.  I also want to sincerely thank the emergency response personnel on campus, as well as the City and County law enforcement that assisted our Office of Public Safety with protecting our campus. Brooks A. Keel, Ph.D. President