Spelman
Spelman ALERT Emergency Notification / 2025 Annual Campus Security and Fire Report
Spelman College — a private women's HBCU in Atlanta — runs emergency notifications through **Spelman ALERT**, a multi-channel system that delivers "time-sensitive emergency messages in the form of e-mail, voice and text messages" to the campus community, administered by the Spelman College Public Safety Department. The College commits in its 2025 Annual Campus Security and Fire Report to issue notification "without delay" on confirmation of an immediate or imminent threat, and to test all emergency notification and evacuation systems at least annually.
Read the official policy~2,712 studentsSpelman ALERT
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
Spelman ALERT definition and channelsnot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
Spelman College Public Safety FAQ / Public Safety pagesAutomatic email enrollmentnot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
Spelman College Public Safety FAQWithout-delay notification standard (2025 ASR)not yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
Spelman College 2025 Annual Campus Security and Fire ReportAnnual testing of notification and evacuation systemsnot yet verified against the source
The policy addresses this topic; its exact wording has not yet been verified against the source, so no text is quoted here. Open the official policy to read it.
Spelman College 2025 Annual Campus Security and Fire ReportAt a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- Spelman College issues notification without delay of incidents involving immediate or imminent threats to health or safety, unless doing so would compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency. Spelman ALERT delivers time-sensitive emergency messages to the campus community.
- Who decides
- The Spelman College Public Safety Department — a Georgia-certified Police Agency with Peace Officer status personnel — confirms and responds to emergencies and activates Spelman ALERT / the College Emergency Notification Systems.
- Timeliness standard
- Notification is issued 'without delay' upon confirmation of an immediate or imminent threat to health or safety, subject to the Clery exception where notice would compromise response or victim assistance.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- Two distinct Clery tracks: (1) emergency notifications via Spelman ALERT on confirmation of a significant/dangerous situation involving an immediate threat; (2) timely warnings for Clery-reportable crimes, issued within time frames that let the community take protective action.
- Testing cadence
- All campus emergency notification and evacuation systems are tested at least annually; tests may be announced or unannounced, and the test description, date, time, type of test, and results are shared.
- Scope & limits
- Spelman ALERT covers immediate-threat emergencies (e.g., active shooter, severe weather, hazardous conditions) and inclement-weather messaging; email reaches all Spelman College email-address holders automatically, while text and voice require opt-in phone contact information. The system is used only in the event of an emergency, and the contact information supplied is confidential.
ChannelsEmailSmsPhone CallWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
Spelman College's emergency-alert program centers on **Spelman ALERT**, described on the College's Public Safety pages as "the emergency communications system for the College" that "allows students, faculty and staff to receive time-sensitive emergency messages in the form of e-mail, voice and text messages." Email is automatic — "Everyone who has a Spelman College e-mail address will receive emergency alerts to their campus e-mail address" — while text and voice delivery require members of the community to supply phone contact information, with enrollment in text and voice messaging strongly encouraged. The College states the information supplied is confidential, is not shared, and that community members "will only be contacted through the system in the event of an emergency."
**When notifications activate and the timing standard.** The 2025 Annual Campus Security and Fire Report adopts the federal Clery 668.46(g) standard verbatim in substance: "Spelman College is required to issue without delay notification of incidents involving immediate or imminent threats to health or safety, unless doing so would compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency." This is the standard "without delay" / immediate-threat trigger, with the recognized exception that allows withholding notice when it would compromise response or victim assistance. The Spelman College Public Safety Department is certified by the State of Georgia as a Police Agency, with personnel holding Peace Officer status, and confirms and responds to emergencies on campus.
**Clery two-track framing.** The Annual Security Report maintains the standard Clery separation: a section on **Timely Warnings**, under which "every attempt possible will be made to issue warnings within time frames that would permit members of the Spelman community to take actions that would minimize the likelihood of them being affected by criminal acts," sits alongside the emergency-notification obligation for significant or dangerous situations involving an immediate threat. Timely warnings target Clery-reportable crimes that pose a serious or ongoing threat, while Spelman ALERT emergency notifications cover the broader category of immediate threats (active shooter, severe weather, hazardous conditions).
**Testing and evacuation.** Per the Report, "All campus emergency notification and evacuation systems are tested at least annually. Tests may be announced or unannounced, and the test description, date, time, type of test, and results will be shared" — satisfying the Clery Act's at-least-annual testing-and-publicizing requirement. The College also ties physical evacuation to the system: "Evacuation of campus facilities shall be undertaken whenever a facility fire alarm is activated, upon instruction of Public Safety staff, Atlanta Fire Department, or when any of the College Emergency Notification Systems issues instructions for evacuation."
Takeaways
Key findings
Spelman ALERT is the College's emergency communications system, delivering time-sensitive messages by email, voice, and text; email is automatic for all Spelman email-address holders, while text and voice require opt-in phone information.
Emergency notifications are issued 'without delay' upon confirmation of an immediate or imminent threat to health or safety, subject to the standard Clery mitigation exception.
The Spelman College Public Safety Department — a Georgia-certified Police Agency with Peace Officer status — confirms emergencies and activates the notification systems.
The College maintains the Clery two-track structure: a Timely Warnings section (issued in time frames that let the community take protective action) alongside emergency notifications for immediate threats.
All campus emergency notification and evacuation systems are tested at least annually, with announced or unannounced tests and documented, shared results.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
15 documented times Spelman’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Official
- Official
- Clery ASR
- Official
- Official
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningcleryhbcugeorgia
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-09-20Via ingestion