As universities strive to make campuses safer in the face of disasters, both natural and those of human origin, how students respond to emergency alerts ultimately defines the success of these efforts. This study investigates how gender differences impact college students’ responses to tornado (natural) and active shooter (human-made) emergency scenarios. Specifically, we examine perception of crisis severity, likelihood, and motivations to engage in secondary crisis communication, the most likely recipients of shared emergency alerts, and how participants respond to these alerts. Findings reveal that women are likely to take emergency alerts more seriously than men and also engage in secondary crisis communication. Whereas males tend to share emergency alerts primarily to reassure others, women inform others so that they too may protect themselves. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to social role theory and optimism bias