25 Miles from the Cooling Towers: How a Liberal Arts College Improvised a Nuclear Evacuation
·PA·hazmatadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat
At 4:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station Unit 2 outside Middletown, Pennsylvania experienced a partial meltdown — the most serious accident in American commercial nuclear-power history. Dickinson College in Carlisle sits approximately 25 miles southwest of the TMI cooling towers, well within evacuation discussion zones. Over the following ten days the College canceled a week of classes, served as the emergency-care site for approximately 500 evacuated nursing-home patients, and hosted a staging area for approximately 500 firefighters. By April 1, 1979, more than 40% of Dickinson students had returned home. Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh did not order a full evacuation, but a voluntary advisory for pregnant women and preschool-aged children within five miles was issued on March 30.
Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Dickinson College
Private Liberal Arts · PA
~1,900 students
Confirmed Timeline
Alert Sequence
4 messages in sequence
Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.
INITIAL ALERTPhone
Approximate reconstruction·356 chars
President Banks, this is Pennsylvania Emergency Management. There has been an incident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor in Middletown. Radioactive steam was released. The situation is under control but we are activating county emergency operations centers. We may need Dickinson facilities for shelter staging. Please stand by for further direction.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Dickinson College President Sam A. Banks coordinated the early institutional response with Cumberland County Emergency Management
Dickinson had no campus-wide PA system or telephone-tree notification capability in 1979; communication was primarily through residence-hall RAs, posted notices, and a college switchboard
The 25-mile distance from TMI was outside the immediate 10-mile evacuation discussion zone but well within the zone subject to the March 30 voluntary advisory
UPDATEUnknown
Approximate reconstruction·394 chars
Effective immediately, Dickinson College is canceling all classes through Friday, April 6. Students who wish to return home should do so. The College will remain open to those unable to travel. Dining Services will continue. Health Services and Counseling are available. Please monitor WHP radio and the Carlisle Sentinel for state and federal updates regarding the Three Mile Island situation.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
More than 40% of Dickinson's approximately 1,800 students had departed campus by April 1, 1979 — a higher evacuation rate than any other college in the TMI region
The College's class-cancellation announcement was distributed by posted notice in residence halls and dining halls, by residence-life staff, and through the Dickinsonian student newspaper
The phrase 'Dining Services will continue' was an explicit institutional commitment that students who could not travel home — particularly international students — would be cared for in place
UPDATEUnknown
Approximate reconstruction·408 chars
Dickinson College has been designated by Cumberland County Emergency Management as a reception center for nursing-home patients evacuated from the Three Mile Island vicinity. Approximately 500 patients are being housed in the Kline Center and the field house. Students and employees who can volunteer with food service, bedding, and patient-comfort support are asked to report to the Dean of Students office.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Dickinson's gymnasium and field house were converted into mass-care shelter for nursing-home patients within roughly 24 hours of the request from Cumberland County Emergency Management
The College simultaneously hosted approximately 500 firefighters from across central Pennsylvania who were on standby in case of a more serious release
Dickinson's role as a designated mass-care site set a precedent for liberal-arts colleges in central Pennsylvania emergency-management planning that continues today
ALL CLEARUnknown
Approximate reconstruction·417 chars
Effective Monday, April 9, all classes will resume. The Three Mile Island reactor has been confirmed stable by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Students returning to campus should contact their academic department for missed-coursework arrangements. The College extends its gratitude to every student, employee, and Carlisle community member who supported the evacuated patients and firefighters during this crisis.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Dickinson resumed classes on Monday, April 9, 1979 — twelve days after the initial reactor event and three days after federal stability confirmation
The College's decision to formally thank students and employees in its 'all-clear' communication established an institutional norm of recognizing community contributions to emergency response
Dickinson did not require any returning students to provide medical clearance; routine campus operations resumed without measurable health impact
Context
Background
The Three Mile Island accident on March 28, 1979 forced every college and university within 50 miles of the reactor to improvise an emergency response in real time — and Dickinson College's response is the most fully documented because Dickinson Archives preserved internal memos, the Dickinsonian student newspaper, and oral histories from administrators. Located approximately 25 miles southwest of TMI in Carlisle, Dickinson canceled classes for a full week, served as emergency reception center for approximately 500 nursing-home patients, and hosted a 500-firefighter staging area in its Kline Center gymnasium. President Sam Banks's decision to cancel classes was made before Governor Thornburgh's voluntary five-mile advisory for pregnant women and preschool children on March 30; Dickinson's family-call surge to its switchboard reportedly peaked at 'hundreds of calls per hour' in the first 48 hours. The case is a foundational example of a small liberal-arts college operating as both a recipient of an emergency-management directive and an active partner in regional mass care. Other regional institutions — including Millersville State College, Elizabethtown College, Lebanon Valley College, and Penn State Harrisburg — made comparable decisions, but Dickinson's archival record is unusually complete. The institutional muscle memory built in March-April 1979 directly informed Pennsylvania higher-education hurricane and pandemic planning in the decades that followed.
Analysis
Key Findings
01Dickinson had no campus-wide PA, telephone-tree, or radio notification system in 1979; the entire ten-day response was coordinated through the college switchboard, residence-life staff, and posted notices
02President Sam Banks's class-cancellation decision on March 30, 1979 preceded the Governor's voluntary five-mile advisory and was independently reasoned
03Dickinson's hosting of approximately 500 nursing-home patients and 500 firefighters set a regional precedent for liberal-arts colleges as mass-care reception sites
04More than 40% of Dickinson students self-evacuated by April 1, 1979 — a participation rate that became a benchmark for voluntary college evacuation studies
Outcome
No injuries or measurable health impact on Dickinson students or staff. Classes resumed April 6, 1979, after Unit 2 was confirmed stable. The College's improvised evacuation, sheltering, and family-communication response became a model for liberal-arts emergency planning.