During a two-week period in fall 2025, 22 campus active shooter hoaxes were reported. Effective crisis leadership is essential in educational settings, where administrators are expected to support faculty, staff, and students while simultaneously navigating unfamiliar, high-stakes situations. Proactive, rapid communication that engages stakeholders is necessary to restore trust and alleviate concern. This research describes faculty and staff perceptions of communication during the 2025 [University] hoax. Forty responses (25% response rate) were collected. Respondents indicated the greatest expectation of communication from [Alert System] and [University] Police. The overall performance rating of academic leaders was neutral with the [Alert System] and [University] slightly above neutral. Respondents indicated their level of agreement to statements about crisis leadership and communications during the hoax. The highest mean scores (M = 2.46) were reported for Campus leadership was visible and engaged in addressing the active shooter threat and The actions of campus leadership promoted unity and teamwork in responding to the active shooter threat (M = 2.31). The lowest mean scores of 1.86 and 2.00 were reported for Campus leadership guided the campus community in making sense of the rapidly changing circumstances and The actions of campus leadership made me feel supported, reassured, or cared for during the active shooter threat. Overall, respondents did not believe campus leaders were visible, engaged, and supported others. Overall, leaders were perceived as ineffective in providing guidance and support by faculty and staff. Results indicate campus leaders should use key communication channels [Alert System] and the [Police] to communicate in real time. Establishing clear lines of communication during a crisis should boost trust, alleviate concerns, and decrease performance dissatisfaction. Crisis leadership and crisis communication trainings should be administered for campus leaders in addition to providing incident trainings for the campus community, including faculty, staff, and students.