HU
Emergency Notifications
Howard University — a private HBCU in Washington, DC — issues Clery emergency notifications and timely warnings through "Bison Safe," a mass-notification system (and companion Bison S.A.F.E. app) coordinated by the Department of Public Safety (HUDPS) and the Office of Emergency Management that pushes time-sensitive alerts via text, email, and app push.
Read the official policyInstitution
Howard University
Hbcu · DC
~12,000 studentsBison Safe
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
Bison Safe system description and scopeverbatim
Bison Safe is the University's new mass notification system that allows the University to send time-sensitive notifications via text messaging and email. Notifications will be limited to emergencies involving events such as severe weather, building concerns, intruders and potential pandemics.
- — Defines both the system and an explicit, bounded scope of qualifying events; the same wording is reproduced on HUDPS pages and in The Dig launch coverage.
Clery emergency-notification triggerreconstructed
Emergency notifications are issued upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus that involves an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees.
- — Mirrors the federal Clery 668.46(g) standard; surfaced via search snippet and could not be byte-confirmed against the live page (host blocks direct fetch), so flagged as reconstructed.
Bison S.A.F.E. app integrationreconstructed
the Bison S.A.F.E. app is powered to integrate seamlessly with Howard University's safety and security systems to keep our community safer and informed and is designed to provide you with essential resources and real-time alerts while on or near campus.
- — Describes the app's real-time alert role; phrasing captured from a search snippet and not byte-confirmed against the live page, so flagged as reconstructed.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- Emergency notifications are issued upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus that involves an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees. Bison Safe notifications are limited to emergencies involving events such as severe weather, building concerns, intruders, and potential pandemics. Timely warnings (crime alerts) are distributed after reported Clery-reportable incidents that represent an ongoing threat.
- Who decides
- The Office of Emergency Management coordinates the University's emergency alert and notification process; an Associate Vice President oversees both Public Safety and Emergency Management. Within Howard's incident-command structure, the Emergency Management Team (EMT) Team Leader can request authorization to activate the University's mass-notification system.
- Timeliness standard
- In the case of an emergency on or near campus, a notification will be sent out immediately via text message and email; emergency notifications are tied to the confirmation of an immediate threat to health or safety.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- Howard distinguishes emergency notifications (immediate on-campus threat, per the Clery Act) from timely warnings / crime alerts (issued after reported Clery-reportable crimes that pose a continuing threat). Both are documented in HUDPS's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, published in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Act.
- Testing cadence
- The University tests the notification system periodically; a documented campus-wide test (email, text, and app push) accompanied the Bison Safe launch on January 22, 2020. Specific recurring cadence not stated verbatim on the public criteria page.
- Scope & limits
- Bison Safe notifications are expressly limited to emergencies involving events such as severe weather, building concerns, intruders, and potential pandemics. Text alerts go to the mobile number on file; email alerts go to Howard University-issued email addresses; app push requires installing Bison S.A.F.E.
ChannelsSmsEmailPush NotificationWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
Howard University's emergency-alert program is built around **Bison Safe**, the University's mass-notification system, with the companion **Bison S.A.F.E.** mobile app integrated into HUDPS's safety and security systems to deliver real-time alerts to people on or near campus. The University launched Bison Safe in January 2020, replacing the prior Rave system; it is provided by the vendor AppArmor. Bison Safe sends time-sensitive notifications via text messaging and email, and the policy states notifications are limited to emergencies involving events such as severe weather, building concerns, intruders, and potential pandemics — a defined scope rather than an open discretionary channel.
The **Clery framing** follows the federal standard: emergency notifications are issued upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus that involves an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees. Howard also operates a distinct timely-warning obligation — the University distributes crime alerts through timely warnings after incidents are reported, in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Act, and HUDPS publishes an Annual Security and Fire Safety Report each year documenting emergency notification and crime-alert procedures.
**Decision authority.** Howard's emergency management function coordinates the University's emergency alert and notification process. The Office of Emergency Management coordinates activation, with an Associate Vice President overseeing both Public Safety and Emergency Management; within Howard's incident structure the Emergency Management Team (EMT) Team Leader can request authorization to activate the University's mass-notification alert system.
**Channels and testing.** In an emergency on or near campus, a notification is sent immediately via a text message to the registered mobile number and an email alert to Howard University-issued email addresses; the Bison S.A.F.E. app adds push notifications. Howard tests the system: at the January 22, 2020 launch the University ran a campus-wide test in which a test email went to student and employee Howard addresses, a text message went to mobile numbers on file, and a push notification went through the mobile app, and the University states it will test the system periodically.
Takeaways
Key findings
Howard's alert program runs on 'Bison Safe' (mass-notification system) plus the 'Bison S.A.F.E.' app, launched January 2020 on the AppArmor platform, replacing Rave.
Emergency notifications are tied to the Clery standard — confirmation of a significant emergency / dangerous situation posing an immediate threat to health or safety.
Bison Safe's scope is explicitly bounded to severe weather, building concerns, intruders, and potential pandemics.
The Office of Emergency Management coordinates activation; the EMT Team Leader can request authorization to activate the mass-notification system, under an AVP overseeing both Public Safety and Emergency Management.
Primary channels are SMS to the registered mobile number, email to Howard-issued addresses, and app push; a campus-wide test across all three accompanied the 2020 launch and the University tests periodically.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
22 documented times HU’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
+ 14 more in the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- OfficialEmergency Notifications — Howard University Department of Public Safetypublicsafety.howard.eduarchived copy
- OfficialEmergency Management — Howard University Department of Public Safetypublicsafety.howard.eduarchived copy
- Clery ASR
- Official
- Official
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningcleryhbcuwashington-dc
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-06-21Via ingestion