Following a string of erroneous bomb threats on University buildings, the administration has revised and clarified its policies for such situations.
Five bomb threats have been made on University buildings over the past five weeks. University Police have made only one arrest in connection to the threats but are pursuing leads, University Police Sgt. Melissa Fielding said.
Danielle Patricia Carr, an Observatory Hill Dining Hall employee, was arrested March 1 for allegedly submitting a written threat on the building. Carr is not a suspect in any of the other investigations.
The most significant policy change stemming from the spate of threats is that classes no longer will be cancelled in the event of a bomb threat.
Instead, professors have been instructed to announce an alternative meeting site at which to gather if regular classroom buildings are closed because of a threat. Once students and professors gather at the alternative site, a University official will inform the group which available classroom space they may use.
The Provost's Office will be responsible for generating alternative classrooms for all classes, said Pat Lampkin, University vice president for student affairs.
The emergency class locations will not be made available to the student body unless a threat occurs, Lampkin added.
She announced the new policy in an e-mail to all students last Thursday.
The first bomb threat occurred Feb. 12 on the Aquatic and Fitness Center.
Subsequent threats were made against Cabell and Wilson Hall and Observatory Hill Dining Hall March 1.
The threats against Cabell and Wilson were made in a single call while the threat against O-Hill arrived in the form of a written note.
Threats most recently were made against Cabell, Wilson and Rouss Halls March 7 and again on Cabell and Wilson Halls March 8.
The last two threats occurred immediately before Spring Break, a peak time for midterms.
A possible motive under consideration is that a student or students perpetrated the threats.
"It certainly is something we are looking at," Fielding said of the possibility of student suspects.
A false bomb threat is a class five felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison and possible fines.
"We will prosecute on this one because of the cost to the institution," Lampkin said.
Evacuating a University building and conducting a bomb search costs the University Police an estimated $18,000, Fielding said.
The cost of continuing investigations for the threats is even higher, she added.
Both Fielding and Lampkin said that despite the string of threats in which no bombs were ever discovered, future threats still will be taken seriously.
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