Campus Alert Archive
ISU

A Third-Party Contractor Clips a Gas Main, Halting Classes in ISU's Engineering and Business Colleges for Half a Day

INgas leakemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the morning of Friday, November 14, 2025, a third-party contractor damaged a natural gas pipeline on the Indiana State University campus in Terre Haute, triggering a RAVE Alert at approximately 10:00 a.m. EST advising students to avoid the area south of the fountain and Chestnut Street. The Bailey College of Engineering and Technology, Scott College of Business, several residence halls, and nearby buildings were evacuated. CenterPoint Energy shut off the gas line, and the leak was secured well before noon; classes at 11:00 a.m. and noon were cancelled and everyone was cleared to return by 1:00 p.m. No injuries were reported.

Alerts
3
Response
15 min
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Indiana State University
Public Masters · IN
~11,000 studentsRave Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction157 chars
ISU Rave Alert: Gas leak on campus. Avoid the area south of the fountain and Chestnut Street. Emergency personnel are on scene. More information will follow.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The RAVE Alert sent at approximately 10:00 a.m. EST included the specific geographic boundary 'south of the fountain and Chestnut Street' -- the fountain being the prominent Terre Haute fountain near the academic core.
Multiple RAVE Alerts were sent during the incident, with one alert advising evacuation and a later alert confirming the gas line had been secured.
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction307 chars
ISU Rave Alert Update: Natural gas service has been shut off by CenterPoint Energy in the affected area. Buildings including Bailey College of Engineering, Scott College of Business, and nearby residence halls are being evacuated. Classes at 11 a.m. and noon are cancelled. Stay away from the affected zone.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The gas line was damaged by a third-party contractor unrelated to CenterPoint Energy -- a construction-site cause rather than a utility system failure.
The evacuation covered not just the engineering and business buildings but also several nearby residence halls, suggesting significant gas pressure was detected over a wider area.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction194 chars
ISU Rave Alert: All Clear. The gas leak has been secured. Buildings are cleared for re-entry. Classes at 1 p.m. and later will proceed as scheduled. Classes at 11 a.m. and noon remain cancelled.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Despite securing the leak well before noon, ISU kept the 11 a.m. and noon cancellations in place and cleared for 1 p.m. classes -- a conservative approach that gave crews time for final checks.
The ISU Statesman headline 'Gas leak brings campus to a halt' captures the operational impact: a significant portion of the academic core was effectively offline for half a morning.
Context

Background

Indiana State University occupies a compact urban campus in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the engineering and business buildings cluster near the academic core. On the morning of November 14, 2025, a contractor working on campus struck and damaged a natural gas pipeline, releasing gas and prompting an immediate emergency response. CenterPoint Energy and the Terre Haute Fire Department responded; CenterPoint shut off the gas service to the affected area, and the leak was secured before noon. The evacuation extended beyond the Bailey College of Engineering and Technology and Scott College of Business to include nearby residence halls -- an unusually large footprint for a gas-leak response, suggesting a significant release. ISU's RAVE Alert system sent multiple messages guiding students away from the hazard zone and confirming the all-clear. Two class periods -- 11 a.m. and noon -- were cancelled, with a return by 1 p.m. No injuries were reported. The incident underscores a campus safety category that receives less attention than violent incidents: utility contractor work near academic buildings is a recurring source of gas-line strikes, and campuses with aging underground infrastructure face this risk during renovation and construction projects.
Analysis

Key Findings

A third-party contractor struck a gas main, not a utility-system failure -- construction-related gas-line strikes are a recurring campus hazard that receives less attention than equipment failures
The evacuation perimeter extended to several residence halls beyond the academic buildings, indicating a larger-than-usual gas release
ISU managed a half-day disruption (two class periods) with a clean return by 1 p.m. -- a model compressed response using the RAVE Alert system for real-time geographic guidance
No injuries were reported; the conservative evacuation and all-clear timeline protected students and staff
Outcome
No injuries. Gas secured well before noon. Classes at 11 a.m. and noon cancelled; 1 p.m. classes and later resumed. CenterPoint Energy repaired the pipeline damage caused by the third-party contractor.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Gas leak at Indiana State University prompts brief evacuation -- Tribune-Star
    tribstar.com
  2. Student Paper
    Gas leak brings campus to a halt -- Indiana Statesman
    isustudentmedia.com
  3. News
    Gas leak reported at Indiana State University building -- MyWabashValley.com
    mywabashvalley.com
  4. News
    Gas leak reported at Indiana State University building -- WIBQ
    wibqam.com
Tags
gas-leakindianacontractor-damageevacuationrave-alertengineering-buildingclass-cancellationterre-hauteutility
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion