An unidentified “college-aged” male was shot at Harvard’s Kirkland House, an undergraduate residential college, around 5PM today, reports the Harvard Crimson. The victim was conscious but bleeding at the time of the Crimson’s report, and students were notified by email later that night.

This was students’ second safety-related email of the day, because 5 minutes before the shooting, Dean Evelynn Hammonds sent an email announcing cuts to nighttime shuttle service (a security measure for soothing the nerves of students who don’t like to walk around in the dark) as part of “cost-cutting measures.”

Both emails after the jump.

UPDATE 1: According to Harvard’s Emergency Communication page, normal activity at Eliot-Kirkland has resumed.

UPDATE 2: The identity and circumstances of the shooting are now known. Allegedly, the deceased was a drug dealer.

The email students received after the shooting:

From: Harvard University Police Department Community Advisory <[redacted]@harvard.edu]
Date: Mon, May 18, 2009 at 7:54 PM
Subject: Harvard University Police Department Community Advisory
To: [redacted]@fas.harvard.edu

A short while ago there was a report of a shooting in the vicinity
of Kirkland House. The Cambridge and Harvard University Police
Departments are on the scene. The HUPD has authorized people outside
the Eliot/Kirkland area to resume normal activity; those in that area
should await further instructions.

Any unusual or suspicious activity should be reported to the Harvard
University Police Department at [redacted].

Steven G. Catalano
Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and Analysis Harvard University Police Department

…and the one they received five minutes before it:

from:     Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds <[redacted]@fas.harvard.edu>
to:    [redacted]@fas.harvard.edu
date:    Mon, May 18, 2009 at 4:55 PM
subject:    Message from Dean Hammonds on the Shuttle Schedule

Dear Harvard College Students,

I am writing today as a follow-up to the town hall meetings held by the College last week addressing program and service changes that the FAS announced on Monday, May 11. I appreciated the opportunity to hear from many of you at these open forums and in subsequent emails I’ve received. I wanted to thank you for your candid comments and to let you know that I have taken the feedback you provided – and continue to provide – seriously.

One of the cost-cutting measures the College adopted was to change the shuttle schedule to bring service in line with demand and student use. What I heard from many of you is that the reduction in overnight service raises safety concerns among those students who use this service. I wanted to make clear that the College’s decision to end late night shuttle use after 1:30am on Sunday – Wednesday was made after a thorough review of the safety implications of the change and was predicated on students’ use of the other late night transportation options that are currently available. What I heard from many of you, however, is that the Escort and Van alternatives are less than optimal as viable alternatives for late night shuttle service.

Therefore, I have decided that the issue of late night transportation will undergo further review. I have asked the Harvard College Safety Committee to work with students from the College’s new Student Life Working Group to forward a set of recommendations to me on the range and dependability of late night transportation options available to students. I have also asked that these two groups work together to review the practices that result in our students moving around campus in the late night hours. We will then adjust the late night transportation options based on these findings and recommendations, and on our financial constraints.

I would be remiss if I did not also point out that there is more to campus safety than shuttle service, and the College has worked diligently over the last five years to increase students’ safety on campus. In 2004, the Harvard College Safety Committee was reconstituted with the charge of reviewing student safety on campus. By identifying current student practices and responding to students’ requests, the Committee has made recommendations for policy changes and infrastructure modifications. These include working with the City of Cambridge to install blue-light phones on the Cambridge Commons; repairing, replacing, and installing city street lamps on pathways; conducting twice annual “safety walks” to identify areas for improvement to safety; developing the Harvard University Campus Escort Program (HUCEP); and, in establishing and publicizing a set of “designated pathways.” Designated Pathways are routes across the Cambridge campus that are well lit, heavily traveled, and lined with blue light emergency phones. These designated pathways can be reviewed at http://hupd.harvard.edu/.

Safety also depends on the choices you as students make. With that in mind, the Safety Committee conducts biannual community campaigns to remind students of their personal responsibility to stay safe by locking doors, walking in groups on well-lit paths, reporting suspicious activities, and preventing “piggybacking” into our residential dorms and Houses. If you have ideas on ways to improve student safety on campus, I invite you to email or join the College’s Safety Committee at hcsafety@fas.harvard.edu.

Finally, I want to reiterate my commitment to the undergraduate experience and to reassure you that my staff and I are working hard to preserve the mission of the College while reducing our expenses. As we look to the next phase of identifying changes to services or programs, I will be working with two College Working Groups that include faculty, staff, house masters, and students and will be seeking your input through a larger community engagement process. These groups met last week and our first topic was increasing communications and developing mechanisms for student, faculty, and staff to have input into our deliberations. Over the  summer we will be building a website and designing other public fora that will allow students, faculty, and staff to communicate with the working groups. While I have been unable to respond to all of you, I want you to know that I appreciate your taking the time at this very busy and stressful time of the year to provide your feedback to me and my staff. I wish you all the best during your final examinations this week and next.

Sincerely yours,

Evelynn Hammonds
Dean of Harvard College