Pitt Pathfinders continue campus tours despite bomb threats

While students and professors adapt their daily routines to campus changes precipitated by… While students and professors adapt their daily routines to campus changes precipitated by frequent bomb-threat evacuations, one aspect of springtime at Pitt remains constant — prospective students touring the school.

For the student representatives who lead those tours — the Pathfinders — the threats and heightened security measures have added new challenges to the task of selling students on Pitt.

“As Pathfinders, we love this university, and we do our best to display the best of Pitt to prospective students,” said sophomore Ethan Boyle, who began working as a Pathfinder this past fall.

Instead of canceling campus tours because of evacuations and limited building access, Pathfinders said they have seized the opportunity to highlight Pitt’s dedication to safety and awareness, concerns often raised by prospective students and their parents during the college search.

But persevering hasn’t been simple.

“Before each tour, we tell families what is going on and that this is obviously an unusual situation,” said Pathfinder President Rosie McKinley. “While this isn’t an easy situation to sound positive about, it is easy to sound positive about the incredible way our campus is handling it.”

The recurring threats and the new challenges that come with each day have forced the group constantly to devise new strategies.

The Pathfinders did not have a plan in place to deal with possible evacuations or bomb threats before this semester’s occurrences. But members said open communication between the organization and administration has allowed the tours to continue.

Tour groups are still permitted into buildings like the Cathedral of Learning and Litchfield Towers despite restricted access policies, although the peek into a freshman dorm room at Towers has been stricken from the tour.

McKinley said it’s up to the tour guides’ discretion to choose which buildings to visit and to improvise their routes during evacuations. The recruiters provide visitors with information on how to view and access virtual tours of various rooms online in the cases where certain buildings or rooms might be unavailable during on-campus tours.

If a bomb threat occurs during a tour, the situation is not ignored by the guide.

McKinley said that Pathfinders inform families about how the threats are dealt with and have been encouraged to show visitors the Emergency Notification System alerts if any are sent out during a tour or at a recruiting event.

Boyle noted the important role law enforcement has played in reassuring the campus.

“We describe our appreciation for the hard work of the Pitt police and the city of Pittsburgh police to keep us safe 24 hours a day,” he said.

McKinley complimented the Pitt administration on the cooperation that has enabled the campus and tours to retain some semblance of normalcy.

As far as maintaining students’ safety as they guide newcomers through University buildings, McKinley said the Pathfinders have policies in place to ensure tours don’t risk campus security.

“We always aim to keep tour groups small, so it is easy to know who is or is not part of a tour group,” McKinley said. “Just as under usual conditions, Pathfinders are instructed to not allow members who were not part of their group in Alumni [Hall] to follow them into campus buildings. We are especially aware of people joining tours now, given the threats.”

Marielle Roppo, a newly inducted Pathfinder, said that the Pathfinders understand the anxiety bomb threats can cause visitors.

“If the families are uncomfortable going into the buildings, the tour guide can just explain the building from outside,” she said.

The sophomore emphasized the group’s dedication to informing and educating families.

“Pathfinders are doing very well considering all that is happening. [We are] definitely doing our job to stay positive on campus,” Roppo said.

Stephanie Melendez, 17, came from Virginia for a Pathfinder-led tour last week.

“I was surprised at first, but at a school with thousands of students, there’s always bound to be a troublemaker,” Melendez said. “Sure, my sense of safety at the school dropped a little bit — the same happened with Virginia Tech — but like I said, you can never truly be safe, and one event doesn’t affect my overall perspective of the school.”

Melendez said that despite bomb threats, she is still considering Pitt.

McKinley said that even with the challenges, the goal of the Pathfinders has remained unchanged.

“Our basic message to families can really only be the truth: that our organization is proud of the way the entire Pitt community has handled this situation, and that pride is what makes us happy to be a part of this University,” she said.