About 3 p.m. Feb. 14, Steven Thiel of University Information remembers watching about nine officers running full–speed towards Cole Hall. The staff was then flooded with continuous phone calls.

Thiel, manager of University Information, said employees kept the landline phone service in operation for 24 hours, working through the night and continuously taking calls throughout the next day.

University Information works as a concierge concept, giving out information about NIU and the surrounding area, he said.

“There were calls from all over the world, instantly,” Thiel said. “There was media, concerned friends, parents and family calling.

“We immediately did get calls of support from people from Virginia Tech and [from] counselors volunteering,” he said. “The counselors were so emotional when they called in for volunteering that you almost had to wait for them to calm down. They were right there wanting to help.”

JoAnn Gill, a telephone information specialist at NIU, said she has been working at NIU for nine years and never witnessed anything so overwhelming.

“You really had to just start responding quickly to the calls because they started flooding,” Gill said. “When they came in, parents [and others] were very concerned. We had to get onto the calls right away. You didn’t have time to really ponder over them.”

Victoria Toussaint, a telephone coordinator, graduate student and adult and higher education major, said she received many calls of concern.

“People, for the most part, were really decent,” Toussaint said. “A lot of pastors called in [and] we were added to a lot of prayer lists.”

Cameron Duncan, a freshman business management major and an NIU operator, said he was in the geology classroom when the shootings took place. He said the experience was really unbelievable.“Sometimes I think about it and jump, as if I’m reliving the entire thing,” Duncan said.

Duncan said he got on the ground when he heard the shooting and then started running when the shooting ceased for a few seconds. He left everything in the classroom except his cell phone and ran to Douglas Hall.

He came back to work the Monday after the shootings.

“Work was different since then,” he said. “We had all types of calls that we were not used to getting. People were crying and asking questions that we didn’t have answers to.”

Duncan said the tragedy and the extra security measures on campus have made him take his job more seriously.

“We are the first number many people think of when they need information,” he said. “With that being said, I think we have a responsibility to go the extra mile needed to help our customers.”

For more on University Information, call 815–753-1000.

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