By Alessia Contuzzi
Opinions Editor
Travers and Wolfe, two freshman residence halls at the College, were evacuated following a series of fire alarm sirens early Friday morning. The commotion was later revealed by the College to have been caused by a fault in the alarm system.
The alarm first went off just after 2 a.m. After some confusion, chaos and cold rain, police officers opened the Recreation Center for students 30 minutes later. At about 3:30 a.m., Travers and Wolfe were reopened and were deemed safe for entry.
15 minutes later, the alarm went off again. Students and staff followed the same protocols as before and exited the building, only to be permitted for reentry immediately after. The alarm then went off for a third and final time at about 4 a.m.
“This was an outrage. I was just trying to go to sleep for class tomorrow and I was woken by separate alarms,” freshman Travers resident and business management major Logan Volk said. “I think if this should happen again they should open up other places for us to stay rather than a dirty basketball court.”
The lack of information given to the students at the time caused lots of confusion and worry for both Travers and Wolfe residents, as well as their parents and guardians at home, who expressed their concern through the “TCNJ Class of 2025 - Parents” Facebook page. Many students were seen leaving campus during the beginning of the madness hoping to get some rest, peace and quiet before Friday classes because there was no estimate or known time of return.
“I had an 8 a.m. class and I was immediately woken up by a fire alarm that went off not once, but three times,” freshman Travers resident and engineering major Brandon Tso said. “I thought the job was handled very poorly and we should not have been waiting outside for four hours in the rain. I feel that the school shouldn’t be having this many problems with one specific building and they should be doing more to better our first year experience.”
In an email sent by Residential Education and Housing at 6:53 a.m., the situation was explained in more detail.
“Facilities was notified by Campus Police at approximately 4:30 a.m. this morning that the Travers/Wolfe fire alarm panel went into alarm because of a low water flow sensor that had activated. The alarm was set off because the campus water pressure had dropped coming from our off campus supplier,” the email said. “Students were evacuated to the Rec Center until the alarm could be silenced. The fire alarm service vendor is on site now working on the problem. Once the alarm was silenced students were allowed back in the buildings.”
Students were also advised to call 609-771-3230 with any questions or concerns. At 9:39 a.m., a follow-up email was released from Residential Education and Housing, offering both apologies and refreshments for the inconvenience and offering advice on how to reach academic assistance for the day.
“The Provost reached out to faculty to alert them of the fire alarms last night and asked for flexibility and grace with first-year students and Residential Education student staff. If you need additional academic assistance today due to the impact of the fire alarms, please reach out to the Dean of Students office for assistance. They can be reached by filling out a Care Referral,” the email said. “Again we sincerely apologize for the fire alarm, as we know how impactful these disruptions are to your academic experience. As you go about your morning today, please help yourself to some refreshments that are in each of the lobbies.”
Students were again advised to make a phone call for any questions and were given the number to facilities, 609-771-2353. Although these emails explained the situation further and helped connect students to the resources they might have needed, students were still seen tired, irritated and in class bright and early two hours later.
