Upon hearing about the string of violent events on and near Northeastern’s Boston campus, Irene Halsey, the mother of a second-year, emailed Northeastern police, concerned for her child’s safety. She was one of many parents who directly contacted the Northeastern University Police Department, or NUPD, looking for answers. 

Halsey is one of more than 11,000 people who belong to the “Northeastern University Parents” Facebook group. In the absence of what many students alleged to be unclear communication from the university, parents flooded the forum, attempting to fill in the gaps of available information. 

In a stretch from March 27 to April 4, four violent incidents occurred either on or near Northeastern’s Boston campus, including two reported stabbings, shots fired on Gainsborough and Hemenway Streets and a suspect wielding a sword-like object who was fatally shot by Boston police on Hemenway Street. 

“Parents are sharing what their students are sending them. They’re sending them videos. They’re sending them screenshots. It’s very, very active,” Halsey said. The university did not respond to a request for how many parents reached out to NUPD. 

To communicate with the community, the university sends an NU Alert Emergency Notification with “time-sensitive information during unforeseen events or emergencies.” Timely warning notifications are sent “when a serious and/or violent crime has occurred on campus but there is no imminent threat.” Northeastern students received both timely warnings and NU Alerts.

“It’s all rumor and speculation in a way. People don’t know what the story is,” said Alison Papadakis, whose daughter is a first-year, “and so then they’re worried about their own kid’s safety.”

Now, many parents are calling on Northeastern to include more detail in NU Alerts and Timely Warnings. 

“There’s no shortage of parents, including myself, that would sit down with Northeastern and help think through what’s possible in terms of extra safety measures,” Halsey said. 

Linda Kelly first heard about the shots fired at the intersection of Gainsborough and Hemenway Streets from her daughter, who is a fourth-year. 

“I got a text from my daughter saying, ‘If you saw the news, I’m safe. I’m okay,’” Kelly said. 

She said her daughter never received an alert about the incident, despite living a block away from the crime scene. Kelly said she believes the NUPD is doing a good job, but she is concerned about the limited frequency of alerts.

“Communication needs to be stepped up as far as I’ve seen,” she said. “People are nervous. Some of these kids are just 18 years old.” 

Some students reported never receiving any NU Alerts or Timely Warnings, but students are automatically enrolled in the system. 

“All students, faculty, and staff are automatically enrolled in the NU Alert system,” wrote Dan Sarro, director of global media relations, in an April 16 email to The Huntington News. 

Papadakis said her daughter reported never receiving alerts. According to the university’s webpage on NU Alerts, “The intent of the system is to get every person at least one form of communication (text, e-mail, call, web posting, person-to-person) in a timely manner.  Given the realities of life and limits of current technology, it is simply not possible to assure every person will receive every form of message.” 

As the director of Clinical Psychological Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Papadakis has seen violent incidents near her university’s campus and said that fast, descriptive alerts ease the community’s anxiety. She hopes Northeastern reassesses their criteria for sending NU Alerts and Timely Warning notifications to the community. (Northeastern follows the Clery Act, which requires universities that receive federal funding to report campus crime statistics and send out timely warning about threats.)

“We can reduce that hyper-vigilance and that over-anxiety if people know they’re going to get clear communication about it, and they’ll know if something happens and then what to do about it,” Papadakis said. 

Suzanne Zimmer, the parent of a third-year, said some parents’ expectations for communication are not realistic. She said the university can “only communicate facts” and communicating possibilities is not “not appropriate and increases anxiety.” She added that parents’ concerns would be eased if the administration addressed them directly in a statement.

“When you’re on a plane, your anxiety goes down when the pilot talks to you,” Zimmer said. “And I think it’s the same here.”

Other parents are questioning the amount of police presence near student housing that is farther from campus. Sujaya Ghosh’s daughter was across the street from the scene at Smith Hall when shots were fired on Gainsborough Street. 

“It’s important to note that the events of the past week have all taken place off campus,” Northeastern Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul wrote in an email published in The Boston Globe April 5. “The university’s police department works in close coordination with the Boston police. We are increasing patrols on all sides of the campus, and we will continue to keep the Northeastern community informed when incidents occur.”

Ghosh, whose daughter is a first-year, said she wants to know what Northeastern is doing to ensure student safety and security from the university about the events. She wants Northeastern to release a statement directly to parents with more information. 

“My daughter is fearful of going out for walks or staying late, and that has really interfered with [students’] day-to-day life, and that shouldn’t be,” she said.