All Clear

What 'All Clear' Means

Updated February 9, 20223

The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors is a responsibility we take seriously. In recent months, we have worked to improve our methods for communicating with our community during any type of situation – from weather closures/delays to emergency alerts in the area. We launched DU Safe, our new mobile application that offers a mobile blue light and many other critical safety features and have been pleased with the campus adoption rate and usage thus far. 

That said, we recognize that community members may have questions during an incident such as what the details of the incident are, what to do, or when to know if it is safe to continue the day as planned.  

In any emergency, DU will alert the campus community at the onset of a situation. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available, the community is urged to take different action from what was previously recommended, or as the passage of time warrants it (in a fast-moving or ambiguous situation, the alerts may be redundant). In other words, we will provide updates as readily as possible. 

When you receive the alerts, make the best possible decision you can with the information available. If you are near the reported location of the incident, you may wish to temporarily relocate. If you are responsible for others, make the decision you feel is in yours and their best interest which may mean heading indoors, evacuating without instructions to do so, etc. 

When you receive the “All Clear” notification, it is safe to resume your normal day and no further action is needed. While this notice may come quickly (sometimes even within a few minutes), this notification may take hours – it all depends on the situation. In a weather emergency, for example, it may take hours for a storm to pass or change direction and for Campus Safety to have confidence in issuing the All Clear.  

Most of the time, situations occur in the local area and not on campus. When this happens, we work with local authorities to pass along pertinent information to the DU community through our communication tools. Since these incidents are off campus, we often do not have a great deal of information to share after the first alert. In many cases, due to privacy laws and/or ongoing investigations, we can share only the initial instruction and then later issue an All Clear. In other cases, there simply is not anything further to share – the situation was not what it was reported to be. 

We know it can be frustrating to not know all the details and appreciate your understanding as we navigate the complexities of various situations, governed by entities outside of DU’s campus community. 

The DU community is here for you. Please use any of the following community resources, which are available to the DU community: