Vincent Boudreau
Dear Members of the Campus Community,
I hope that you had a restful holiday break, and that the time off has allowed you to gear up for the fast run we’ll all have to the end of the semester. I’m writing to share what I can about our campus closure last Tuesday.
On that day, we received a phone call in which someone threatened to commit an act of violence on campus at a specific time—without, however, targeting any specific individual or group on campus. We investigate all such threats, dismiss those that do not seem credible, and apprehend many who make such calls. However, since we were unable to verify this as a hoax in a timely fashion, I decided that the only prudent decision was to close the campus. At this time, however, our investigation has proceeded to a point where we can say that no threat to our campus remains.
As we have done in past such incidents, our Public Safety Department is working closely with law enforcement authorities to apprehend the responsible party. Threatening calls are both a violation of our campus disciplinary code and, usually, a violation of the law. We take these threats seriously and collaborate closely with law enforcement agencies to identify those individuals who make them as part of our continued efforts to keep our campus safe.
I would like to thank our public safety team for their swift action last week. Their work, and their close collaboration with law enforcement, clarified the nature of the call and allowed us to return the campus to safe footing.
I look forward to seeing you all on campus this coming week.
Sincerely,
Vince Boudreau,
President