Bucknell University rolled out a new service this month that pushes cell phone text messages to its 47,000 alumni. The messages also can be viewed on a Web site formatted for cellphones with Web capability, which gives Bucknell the opportunity to push video, too.

The service is a logical next step for colleges that already send text messages to students' cellphones. Colleges in late 2005 began contracting with vendors to provide the messages, which inform students of canceled classes, bus schedules, and other campus news. After the massacre at Virginia Tech, in April, more colleges signed up to alert students to emergencies. Colleges are listening, particularly because they are eager to connect with young alumni, who are accustomed to using mobile devices and more likely to ignore traditional e-mail, said James E. Saqui Jr., director of marketing communications at Valparaiso University School of Law.

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