The Silver Spring Penguin

Montgomery College says it’s partnering with the county’s homeland security department to text and email students in the event of an MEOC — major event on campus.

“Our greatest hope would be to never have to use the service, but it is reassuring to know that this tool is available to us,” Brian K. Johnson, the college’s president, said in a press statement.

The subscription service sends text and email messages over broadband networks if a major emergency occurs at one of the college’s three campuses, including one in South Silver Spring.

However, the service does not notify subscribers of school delays or closures. DLAYs and CLZRs will still be announced through the college’s website, cable TV station, main phone number, and through local media outlets.

Students can enroll for the service when they register for classes. Subscribers are automatically enrolled in the countywide emergency-alert notification system, which lets county residents know of major emergencies.

While the service is intended for students, faculty and staff, county residents who sign up for other notification options through the county’s website can also select Montgomery College alerts as a notification option.

Immediately after the shootings at Virginia Tech this spring, questions came up about how the university notified students. University officials did not send an email alert about a gunman on campus until two hours after the first slayings, the Associated Press wrote.

Critics said the university waited too long and relied on email accounts that students often ignore, the AP reported. Thirty-three people, including the gunman, died in that incident.

However, a text-message alert system at St. John’s University was lauded in September for notifying students of a masked gunman on the Queens, NY, campus. The text message dispersed 10,000 students on campus without incident, the New York Times reported.

St. John’s alert system was created as a result of the Virginia Tech incident, the Times added.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Semarr.