UC Berkeley cuts public emails amid safety alert overhaul
Cal's new Safety App emphasizes push notifications over email and text alerts.
As the fall 2025 semester starts, UC Berkeley has rolled out a new approach to emergency messaging for the campus community and the broader public.
Under the new system, Cal appears to have ditched most email alerts, for the broader public in particular. That means local residents, Cal parents and others concerned about campus safety must get up to speed.
Instead, Cal has created a new Safety App for Apple and Android devices.
The app sends push notifications about issues of concern — which will likely be a welcome addition to campus notifications overall.
In addition to push notifications, the app includes a range of resources, from links to Cal safety services to an anonymous crime report form to a "mobile panic" button to help students call 911 and share their location.
Some of the features of UC Berkeley's new Safety App.
Other college campuses use similar safety apps and some Cal parents had been lobbying for UC Berkeley to create its own.
Some students have already expressed support for the new approach.
"This all-in-one app gives you access to important campus phone lines, emergency procedures in case of natural disasters or other events, and more," a student wrote on the UC Berkeley Life blog in May. "You can initiate a friend walk to help look out for each other from afar, and find accessible campus maps. Specially developed by the Office of Emergency Management and UCPD, the app is equipped to assist with instant access to all kinds of campus safety resources for students."
As of publication time, it was unclear how many people had downloaded the app. (The Scanner has asked UC Berkeley for details.)
Cal says it will still send text alerts for some types of safety notifications — but not all of them.
Aside from the app, the biggest change under the new emergency notification system is the decision to scrap email alerts altogether for many people.
UC Berkeley announced the change Aug. 11 in a single, rather cryptic, WarnMe email titled "UC Berkeley has enhanced our campus alert systems."
The subject line failed to make clear that recipients would no longer receive critical alerts without taking action.
The message itself was brief, for those who read it.
"You have previously signed up for campus safety alerts on the Everbridge platform. However, the university will no longer be sending alerts through this channel. We are sending this communication to invite you to register for continued receipt of WarnMe messages via the new UC Berkeley Safety App."
The email also included directions to sign up for text notifications (although they will only be sent in limited situations): "Text 'WARNME' to 67283."
According to Cal's Office of Emergency Management page about its mass emergency alerting system, called WarnMe, students, staff and faculty were automatically enrolled in email alerts for emergency notifications (immediate threats), timely warnings (crime on or around campus that may cause serious or ongoing threats), and community advisories ("major disruptions").
Those who would like corresponding text alerts, for emergency notifications only — not timely warnings or community advisories — must sign up.
The WarnMe site also promotes the new UC Berkeley Safety App, and how to download it, and has instructions for all of the above for non-affiliates (those other than Cal students, staff and faculty).
Emilie Raguso
UC Berkeley has repeatedly come under fire for its emergency notification efforts, which have been hampered by reduced staffing at the campus police department.
Students have ridiculed the alerts, on Reddit and elsewhere, for being inconsistent, slow and vague.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education fined UC Berkeley more than $2 million in connection with Clery Act violations related to campus crime statistics, according to media reports.
The former contract for WarnMe notifications, through the Everbridge platform, reportedly cost $150,000.
Read more from UC Berkeley
- Clery Act website
- Office of Emergency Management
- UC Berkeley Safewalk (previously called "Bearwalk")
