A second bomb threat made early Tuesday morning targeted six campus buildings – a fact not disclosed to students.
The University administration informed students of the threat via a somewhat-vague e-mail at about 4:30 a.m. The message said there was “another threat similar to one that was discovered over the weekend.”
Eugene Police Department Sergeant Rich Stronach said there was a “threat involving six buildings,” according to an e-mail sent to EPD by the University.
University President Dave Frohnmayer did not deny the six-building threat, and said it was thoroughly evaluated throughout the night by University administrators and law enforcement officials. They determined the threat to be unreliable.
“Every day dozens of pieces of information come to the University’s attention that may or may not be acted upon,” Frohnmayer said. “If we put out every piece of information that comes to our attention we wouldn’t be running a university. It would be shut down all the time…we know that from wide and long experience. It’s a judgment call, carefully made, and it was an appropriate judgment.”
Stronach said the University and local law enforcement did not want to publicize either threat out of concern for copycats.
“The nature of the message led officials to decide to continue business as usual on Tuesday,” said Frohnmayer. He also reminded students that the University thoroughly evaluates each individual threat.
While campus activity remained uninterrupted Tuesday, many campus community members were shaken up nonetheless, even without the details.
Senior Rachael Henderson was busy stressing over her midterm until she read the second e-mail notification of a second threat.
“It puts things in perspective,” Henderson said. She hadn’t given much thought to the first notification, but when the second one arrived she took it seriously.
Henderson isn’t the only one. Entire classes were on edge Tuesday. Carl Bybee, an associate professor in the journalism school, gave his students in Chiles Hall the option of doing their assigned group work outside the building because of the first threat against Lillis Business Complex.
“If that threat wouldn’t have been there and students hadn’t expressed discomfort, we would have continued with the class,” said Bybee. “Even though it was being described as a hoax, it’s clear that it made the students uncomfortable enough that they wanted to get out of the building.”
An unknown person made the second threat just after midnight Tuesday morning. A familiar procedure followed: University administrators, Department of Public Safety representatives and Eugene Police Department members evaluated the threat. This time, though, the threat was deemed insignificant enough to continue with “business as usual” Tuesday.
Phil Weiler, University Director of Public and Media Relations, said because the second threat is an ongoing investigation the University was instructed not to discuss details of the message.
“(Both threats) are under investigation,” said Weiler, “but in this particular case we have reason to want to be able to keep some of the details close to our vest as we continue the investigation.”
Norm Arkans, Executive Director of Media Relations and Communications at the University of Washington, said while every situation is contextual, informing the public is important.
“The need for public information supersedes whatever other considerations you might have,” said Arkans. “The first priority is public safety. Everything else pales in comparison.”
Arkans said threats are dealt with similarly at Washington, with the University administration working in conjunction with the police to determine the threat’s credibility.
University junior Austin DeKoning said he trusts DPS, EPD and the administration to act in the best interest of students. He, like Henderson, turned a deaf ear to the first threat and suspected it was “some guy that wanted to have a weekend off and maybe go on a trip somewhere.” But upon hearing word of the second threat, he was reluctant to attend class.
DeKoning said while it’s hard to picture a bomb going off on a campus where students can’t walk to class without turning down a free hug, the University’s campus isn’t immune to violence.
“Bomb threats are so counterintuitive to a place like Eugene,” he said.
While the University feels safe to most students, it does have a plan in place in case of an emergency.
Each institution within the Oregon University System develops its own Emergency Preparedness Plan specific to the institution’s safety needs. Campuses and local law enforcement agencies do various exercises on a regular basis to ensure a smooth procedure. Plans such as these have undergone particularly harsh scrutiny in recent weeks.
“With what happened at Virginia Tech I think every campus in the United States is reviewing those plans,” said Di Saunders, OUS Communications Director.
The Virginia Tech shooting has created a heightened sense of awareness on campus, and is one possible explanation for the bomb threats, local psychologist Dr. Alison Prescott said.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on power and gaining control in these times,” she said. “Dramatic gestures are all over the media, all over the news, and that would predict that this would continue.”
Prescott also cited a history of violence, personal inability to regulate emotions, and desire for attention as possible explanations for issuing a threat.
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