On Sept. 16 at 4:21 p.m., a campus-wide alert went out through the Omnilert system, notifying Muhlenberg students that Seegers Union, Parents Plaza and Prosser Hall were to be immediately evacuated due to a natural gas leak. Students and staff were directed to the Life Sports Center, where they awaited further updates. The Allentown Fire Department and United Gas Improvement, Inc. (UGI) Gas Company had arrived on the scene at approximately 4 p.m. to investigate the source of the leak. At 4:42 p.m., another Omnliert was sent, and Brown and Walz Hall were also evacuated. Over an hour after the first evacuation notice, at 5:39 p.m., students were permitted to return to their residence halls. Seegers Union was still closed to the public, however, as dining staff returned to finish their preparations for that night’s dinner.
In an email sent out to campus, the Office of Communications stated that the Wood Dining Commons would open in a limited capacity from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m., with only cold foods being offered. The salad bar and Chew Street Deli were available, and students were brought into the dining hall in waves to alleviate traffic. The General’s Quarters remained closed until the following day.
“This worried me, since prolonged exposure to natural gas could have negative health implications, I was concerned for the well-being of those evacuated from nearby spaces.”
Some students praised the administration for their quick handling of the situation. Abby Ostrow ‘28 weighed in, “When it happened I kinda just thought we would be out of the dorm for like 10 min[utes] but I think the school handled it to the best of their abilities.” Teigan Brown ‘25 shared, “Overall I thought the school did a great job of mobilizing a quick response to evacuate all surrounding residential buildings and heavily populated areas. I appreciate the rapid and frequent communication the school offered to the student body informing them when it was safe to re-enter spaces, offering supplemental dining options, etc. I was pleased to hear that those working to fix the issue were able to identify and solve the incident rapidly and prioritized clearing the impacted areas as quickly as possible.”
Others were left frustrated by the administration’s lack of transparency. An anonymous student stated, “Administration should be honest with us about the source of the leak. It’s not hard to figure out, especially when fire trucks are surrounding the construction site. If construction is going to be done during the academic year, in a place where several dorms and Seegers are going to be impacted, it needs to be done more carefully and not in a way that puts students and staff at risk. Especially because Seegers is the only source of food on campus and not every student has a kitchen or can get takeout.”
“If construction is going to be done during the academic year…it needs to be done more carefully and not in a way that puts students and staff at risk..”
As crew chief of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Brown was close to the scene. “I became aware of the gas leak upon receiving a notification from Muhlenberg’s emergency response alerting system. I received the notification as I was preparing to begin my shift as the crew chief for the evening’s EMS crew. Due to the evacuation of Prosser Hall, the campus safety office was also cleared, meaning that there was no way for anyone to contact campus emergency medical services if the need arose, as there was no one to answer the phone. This also meant that there was no way for me to access the resources I needed to put [EMS] in service that evening, as our daily-use equipment is stored in this office as well. This worried me, since prolonged exposure to natural gas could have negative health implications, I was concerned for the well-being of those evacuated from nearby spaces. From my perspective as a student leader and an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), I believe that Muhlenberg’s quick and effective response procedures preserved the physical safety of everyone on campus during this event.”
Alexandra Downey ’27 is an English & Creative Writing and Media & Communication double major. She is incredibly excited to be an assistant news editor! She enjoys playing tennis, rereading her favorite YA books, and showing off pictures of her dogs.
