Last week, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority hosted “Get S.M.A.R.T”, an event to help sign up students for the Spartan Mobile Alert.
Spartan Mobile Alert, or S.M.A.R.T is an emergency text messaging service used by the University of Tampa to alert students if a danger situation arises on campus. S.M.A.R.T is a system that has been available to all UT students, faculty, and staff since this summer.
When asked what prompted the sorority to hold this event, D’Asante Beneby, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sigma Nu Chapter President, said that her sorority attended an SG meeting where people were talking about the fact that very few students had signed up for the service.
“That inspired us,” she said, “because we thought it was important to make campus safer.”
She explained that with recent tragedies on campuses across the country, it is important to have a means of communication if an emergency situation arises.
Since most people carry cell phones, the idea of S.M.A.R.T is to alert students even when they do not have access to a computer.
S.M.A.R.T text messages are only sent to advise students of emergency situations and there is no fee for signing up.
As of 2:45 PM on Monday, Alpha Kappa Alpha had signed up 38 students for the service. They hoped to get 50 students by the end of the day.
Students who wish to sign up for S.M.A.R.T should dial 877-724-3287 from their cell phone. When prompted, enter the access code “88911” followed by the “#” key. Then just press “1” and hang up.