Thursday, March 12, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., the university will conduct a safety exercise to test various emergency preparedness and response protocols. The exercise is taking place during Spring Break to reduce operational impacts on our campus community.
Please be aware of the following important information about this exercise:
- The exercise will simulate an active threat incident at Tompkins Hall (725 23rd St., NW) on the Foggy Bottom Campus.
- Access to Tompkins Hall will be restricted to exercise participants until 10 a.m.
- There will be an increased presence of GW Police Department and external law enforcement personnel in and around the building. Signage on site and participants’ clothing will clearly indicate this is an exercise.
- GW staff participants will discuss internally how they would respond in such a situation; however, to avoid confusion, we will not send any communications (including via email, social media, or web updates) during the exercise.
- VEX shuttles will run as scheduled. Pickup and drop-off, typically directly in front of Tompkins Hall, will occur at the corner of 23rd and G Street NW from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- Members of the GW and neighboring communities do not need to take any action during the exercise.
This exercise is part of the university’s commitment to the safety of our community. This academic year, the Office of Emergency Management has conducted more than a dozen active threat preparedness exercises with schools and departments. This work is ongoing in close coordination with GWPD and our partners on and off campus, and GW continues to enhance its emergency planning, training and response protocols based on information learned through these exercises.