On the morning of April 4, two reported crimes would shake the community’s faith in Alert Carolina.
Only one would prove to be true.
Just after midnight, five students were robbed at gunpoint inside a suite in Morrison Residence Hall, police said.
And a freshman falsely reported that a man severely burned him on the wrist at 3 a.m. the same morning, calling him a homophobic slur in what the University suspected to be a hate crime.
Though only the armed robbery actually occurred, both revealed a schism in what information University officials release and what students believe they have a right to be notified about.
The University heard the concerns, and Chancellor Holden Thorp convened the Executive Group, a collection of 10 upper-level administrators, to review Alert Carolina policies.
The group is still reviewing those policies, but ideas for expanding the use of social media and sending an informational — rather than instructional — alert have arisen.
Some felt as though the siren and mass-text systems should have been activated, at least in the case of the armed robbery. UNC decided to notify the community through an informational post on the Alert Carolina website 12 hours after the incident occurred.
Officials did not notify campus of Quinn Matney’s reported attack until a week after the alleged incident, and the next day had to report that it was false.
