Crisis Response

Kalamazoo College takes seriously the health and welfare of its students, employees, and campus visitors—especially during a crisis. For this reason, the College routinely plans and tests its response to various crises, including how it will communicate with the campus community.

In the event of a crisis or emergency,

  • an alert will appear at the top of the College home page, with a link to relevant information and steps to take to remain safe.
  • voice-recorded information will be available at 269.337.7500
  • “K-Alerts” will be sent as email, voice messages and text messages to students, faculty, staff, and other members of the campus community. Do we have your updated information?

Crisis Planning

K College engages in crisis planning the way many other organizations do: By striving to avert crises and emergencies, by working to reduce their severity and duration, by regularly reviewing and practicing our response protocol, and by assessing our response to every crisis with an eye toward improvement.

The College takes an “all-hazards” approach to crisis response, meaning that our protocol for assessing and responding to each crisis is the same, regardless of the situation. Although the actual response may differ from crisis to crisis (responding to a chemical spill is different than responding to a power outage, for example), the process of identifying, analyzing, and responding remains the same.

The main components of Kalamazoo’s all-hazards approach are:

  • Gather, analyze, and assess information immediately
  • Take quick and effective action
  • Communicate early and often with key audiences
  • Determine ongoing threat and long-term action
  • Move appropriately from crisis to recovery mode

Key functional areas of the institution (President’s Staff, Campus Security, Information Services, Facilities Management, College Communications) comprise the Kalamazoo College Crisis Response Team. Other campus resources, such as the Student Health Center and Counseling Center, are involved as needed. The College also has excellent relationships with city and county law enforcement, EMS, health, and other helpful resources.

During a time of crisis on campus, please visit this site or call 269.337.7500 to find out what happened, how you might be able to help, and when it will be safe to visit campus.

About K-Alert

K-Alert is K’s emergency notification system. K-Alert notifications will only be used in cases of extreme and immediate danger, school closings and system testing.

  • On-Campus, extreme emergencies
  • Extreme or severe weather (such as tornado warnings)
  • School closure notifications
  • Messages required to be sent under local, state, or federal laws
  • Large Scale power outages
  • Testing two times per year during the fall and spring quarters.

Kalamazoo College K- Alert notifications are sent via email from kalert@kzoo.edu to all Kalamazoo College email accounts, office extensions and registered personal phones. Please add kalert@kzoo.edu to your accepted recipient list.

Update your personal information for K-Alert