Many students recently received a text message reminiscent of the alerts for the emergency broadcast system. But it was only a test of the Topper Texting system.

The test message, sent to about 4,400 students and faculty, occurred early in the morning of Oct. 21. The university intends to do periodic testing of the Topper Texting each semester.

“The purpose of the recent Topper Text test was to make sure it is working properly and to make sure people in the communications area know how to use it,” Brenda Adrian, associate director of Instructional Technology, said. “It’s important to test the system so that it is not being tested during an emergency. It is also a good way to get good publicity for the topper text system. Many students become aware that they are not receiving the text messages and become interested in signing up.”

Universities have gained interest in communicating with students and faculty in emergency situations due to several events that have transpired in recent years due to various security threats and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

St. Edward’s has had its own bomb threats in recent years, but none since last fall. One bomb threat made national headlines because it occurred the day after the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.

“You know almost certainly that the big impetuous reasoning behind the implementation behind these kinds of systems at colleges and universities was the incident at Virginia tech, at which there was a shooter on campus,” Waldron said At Virginia Tech, a student gunman managed to kill 32 people in several rounds of murders, thanks in part to a breakdown in communication between students and administrators.

But Topper Text theoretically could also be used as a social networking tool. However, it will only be used for emergency situations.

“Many colleges and universities have decided that it is prudent to restrict the use of these kinds of texting services for emergency conditions,” Waldron said. “I expect this is seen first and foremost as an emergency notification tool. A lot of schools have expressed concern that if they use these kinds of services for non-emergencies, students in particular would begin to ignore them.”

The university initiated the Topper Text system four years ago. The most recent change in the Topper Text system has been the university’s mass-communication service provider. The original company, known as Clear Text, was purchased by the current provider, Rave Text, as of Spring 2008.

“The original purpose is to be able to inform a broad group of people on campus, in the event that some sort of emergency developed on campus,” Waldron said.

To sign up or change existing information to receive Topper Text alerts, students can go to http://www.stedward.edu/it/toppertext/index