The Department of Homeland Security is dedicating the month of September to enhancing emergency preparedness and SMU is determined to play an active role by preparing students for emergency situations.

The university will require random drills at various times throughout the semester to ensure a safe exit from campus buildings. Along with drills, SMU will conduct an emergency siren test on the first Wednesday of every month. These sirens are intended to notify faculty and students of any outdoor emergency, such as a tornado.

Each student is advised to update his or her contact information at access.smu.edu, as emergency information will be shared via email and text. Information regarding recommended emergency responses will also be distributed through social media.

Table tents in Umphrey Lee’s Real Food On Campus will be equipped with quick response codes for students and staff to access evacuation and lockdown videos through their smart phones.

To promote student interest in viewing the emergency videos, the university will produce and ask questions about the videos through Twitter (@SMU). The first student to provide the correct response from the video will receive a $25 Starbucks gift card.

A list of media outlets, emergency preparedness videos, and further information regarding emergency notifications can be found on SMU’s webpage, www.smu.edu/emergency.
Students should become familiar with each of the emergency plans to better prepare themselves in the event that any danger is present.