Student Assembly issued an "update" early Wednesday morning to correct a campus-wide BlitzMail message it sent over 24 hours earlier, erroneously warning the Dartmouth community that two missing women were abducted in nearby areas and that one of them had also been "raped and murdered."
The original Assembly message, titled "FYI," informed the community that a Vermont woman was "abducted, raped and murdered," although the Valley News reported two days earlier that the cause of death of this University of Vermont student was unknown. The Assembly further reported that the Thetford woman had also been "abducted," despite a quote in the Boston Globe from Thetford police chief saying that no foul play was suspected.
While Student Body President Tim Andreadis '07 said he supported the intent behind the message and hopes to send more campus-wide notifications in the future, he did say a few students blitzed the Assembly with concerns.
"I take full responsibility for sending it out ... had we had more information we still would have sent it out," Andreadis said about the initial blitz.
Vice-President of Student Organizations Joshua Jacobson '09 said the over 24-hour delay in sending a correction was due to the fact that the Assembly's nine-member executive board had to be consulted before another blitz could be sent.
"We don't send out blitzes until we consult with the executive board," Jacobson said. "So it takes time to make sure things are certain, and we had to take the time to read the articles and really see what they're saying."
When asked what sources provided the Assembly with the basis of Monday's blitz, Jacobson said the Assembly's sources included students and online newspaper articles.
The online articles Jacobson sent to The Dartmouth, however, make no mention of the conclusions set out in the original Assembly blitz.
In light of the inaccuracies, Jacobson said he believes the Assembly will change its blitz policy in the future.
"It would have been helpful to send out related articles at the time, something we'll definitely do," he said.
Still, Jacobson was pleased with the response garnered by the blitz and how it reflects on the Assembly.
"I thought it was information that was important and that everyone hear about," he said. "We regret that it was incomplete."
Both Andreadis and Jacobson emphasized that the Assembly had received primarily positive feedback from students in response to the initial blitz.
The correction message, titled "Update: FYI," read in part, "We apologize if the information we sent out last night was incomplete and based off of earlier news reports."
Despite the lag in responding to the inaccuracy, Jacobson applauded the timely nature of the Assembly's initial blitz.
"It was a huge step forward because we did something when it needs to be done," he said. "We are happy with how quickly we got out the previous blitz with information that is time sensitive."
Andreadis said that in recent memory the Assembly has not sent out messages of this cautioning nature before.
