Creepy Clowns on Campus Debunked

ALICE training is offered to Concord Students at least once a semester.
Photo Courtesy of Sierra News Online

Whether you live on campus or you commute, you have undoubtedly heard about it: the crazy clown drama. Did it really happen? The answer is no. Concord University is, thankfully, clown free. With all of this chaos about clowns and safety, we decided to talk to the Director of Public Safety and police chief Mark Stella.

    Stella says, “It all boils down to common sense and accurate information. Don’t rely on social media. There’s people that get on social media that stir up the pot – that want to see hysterics, that want to see people get uprooted and disturbed, that’s their goal.”

That’s exactly what happened here at Concord University last Wednesday night. Students seemed to be scared and were not sure what to believe or what to do. Stella says, “The thing of it is, is common sense. If you are aware of your surroundings and what’s going on, the picture...about the clown was in the Bluefield Telegraph a couple of days ago – which supposedly – again not confirmed, was taken on the other side of the county. Which that was probably a copy-cat of what happened in South Carolina. So someone gets a picture, posts it up and says ‘Hey, I saw him on Route 20’ knowing everyone is going to freak out for no reason,” Stella reiterates. 

    So with the chaos of everyone believing that we should be on lookout for a crazy clown or that the campus is on lock down, students should know that we have resources available to us and need to use them during times that we feel unsafe.

    “If something is happening on this campus, trust me, the student body will know. That’s why we have the emergency text services, that’s why we have the list-serve for the emails, that’s why we have police officers on duty, and that’s why we have RA’s on duty. If this campus was on a lock down, wouldn’t everybody on campus know?” Stella reasons.

    If we hear any other tid-bits about the scary clown drama, we should know, as students that we will be made aware of any potential threats. Until then, Stella urges students to try and combat the drama with positivity. “So what you do here as a responsible citizen at Concord is get on social media, and turn that dime back around the other way, ‘No, we don’t have an armed crazy clown on campus, no the campus is not locked-down, why are you spreading these rumors and creating problems for the whole campus?’ That’s part of your responsibility as a citizen here. That is why this town is fairly safe: because the citizens here in Athens are a little bit different than the citizens in Princeton or Bluefield. That is, because we all work and live here, we all know each other. …You have to trust and gain the trust of the community, and then therefore, you all work together.”

    Working together is vital when situations arise. “A couple of people stirred the pot, and got everybody all upset. Why was there not an emergency text sent out to let everybody know? Because I deemed it not necessary. …What I did do is make several contacts with people I know on campus that actively view and participate in social media in a positive aspect and told them ... ‘Let’s turn this dime around, no, that’s not what it is. Let everybody know that everybody is safe,’” Stella says.

    With different scenario’s come different situations. Stella says that students’ should have some sort of a plan to know what to do. “You should already pre-plan, you should already think about things. …You should already know, it’s common sense. …It all goes back to the basics, be aware of your surroundings. Who, what, when, where, and why if something happens,” says Stella.

    “It depends on the incident. [If it’s] an active shooter and it’s the course of a night, it depends on what building it is in. …If you’re near the threat, get away from the threat. …If you hear it right outside and can’t get out, that’s when you lock the door, barricade the door, and do everything you can to keep this person from getting to you. People like that are looking for target-rich environments and do the most damage they can in the shortest amount of time that they can. … But if you’re in that room, you have options still. Don’t become a fish in a barrel, sometimes you have to fight. And that’s what the ALICE class we have that will teach the students and the faculty and staff.”

    So what is this ALICE class?  ALICE classes train people in how to respond during an active shooter situation. “Alert, lockdown, inform, confront, and evacuate. …The only thing we can give you is response options. We have a semi class we have that deals with the faculty when they first start here. That is because you all will be looking to them to know what to do if something happens, but you all should know what to do also. …Again, it’s options. Nothing is black and white in this world anymore. We have to open up as a community and look out for each other and teach each other,” says Stella. 

    So, if there was anything to ever happen on campus, the student body would know. “It gets back to the E-2 services, the email systems, the RA’s, by signage or word of mouth, we will go floor by floor, room by room if we have to. Even with the technology these days, all it has to do is reach a handful of people. Look what happened last night [about the clown.].”  Stella says. “We’re here to help and protect you guys, that’s what we’re here for. … You [students] deserve that. You deserve the straight honest truth. …But as long as we trust each other, support each other and as a community, come together. …We’re here to get rid of the bad guys,” says Stella.

    It’s safe to say that the clown drama should dissipate for now, but we as students should be more informed of the resources we have available, while being more aware of our surroundings.