To: All Faculty & All Academic Professionals & All Civil Service Staff &
           All Undergrad Students & All Grad Students <everybody@illinois.edu> 
    From: "Chancellor Michael Aiken" <chancellor@admin.uiuc.edu>

Reply-To: chancellor@admin.uiuc.edu
 Subject: MASSMAIL - Job Well Done

Dear Colleagues:

An emergency on Friday at our power plant meant that most campus buildings 
lost power and heat.  Now that service has been largely restored, let us 
recognize and take pride in the dedication and sense of community displayed 
so consistently across campus in the face of this problem.  

The crews that battled the fire and its aftermath in Abbott Power Plant—
including individuals from O&M and Illinois Power, as well as community 
firefighters—deserve our thanks and our commendation.  The situation was 
dangerous and unpredictable, to which all of these individuals responded at 
the highest level.  Our thanks to all who contributed to the fast and 
comprehensive restoration of services.

While O&M was working to contain the fire and restore services, hundreds of 
people across campus swung into action to begin implementing contingency 
plans to minimize further consequences.   

Participants in our telephone alert system quickly and competently spread 
the word about the cancellation of classes and started emergency responses 
across campus.  Staff in Student Affairs and Housing assessed the situations 
in dorms that were affected and began preparing plans for assuring the 
safety, housing and continuation of services to our students.  Research 
staff took actions to assure safety and to protect experiments and 
equipment.  Despite failures in first-level emergency backup systems, CCSO 
staff restored electronic communications and minimized the effects of the 
power outage on sensitive equipment.  And, across campus, people kept 
working with flashlights and coats on, answering phones, providing 
information, and generally doing whatever it took to keep necessary 
operations going.  The staffers at the DI put out a special edition under 
adverse circumstances, and students across campus responded with calm and 
good will.

So to all those who helped cope with this emergency, and especially to the 
individuals in Operations and Maintenance who labored throughout the day and 
evening to return the campus to its normal state, we wish to express our 
considerable appreciation for a job well done. We hope the rest of the 
semester is calm and productive for all.  

Sincerely yours,


Michael Aiken, Chancellor
Richard H. Herman, Provost
Charles C. Colbert, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Human Resources

This mailing approved by:
The Office of the Chancellor

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