A bomb threat called in to Lawrence Hall forced the 8 a.m. evacuation of staff and hundreds of students from the building Tuesday.
Department of Public Safety Lt. Herb Horner said DPS officials evacuated the building and performed a sweep after a caller with a female voice claimed there was a bomb in the building. Officers found no suspicious objects. There are no suspects but DPS is still following up on some leads, Horner said.
Michael Smith, director of facilities services for the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, said the dean’s office received a phone call stating there was a bomb in the building and everyone should get out. He estimated hundreds of students were evacuated.
He said the students and staff were able to return to Lawrence Hall at about 9:15 a.m.
Several of the stranded students migrated to the EMU Fishbowl.
Fourth-year landscape architecture student Jaime English said she was inconvenienced by the evacuation. She said many architecture students were scheduled to give presentations on their projects, adding that she was not giving a presentation when the building was evacuated. However, she was working on assignments, and the evacuation broke her concentration.
English said this time of year is pivotal for the architecture students who are working on projects and assignments, especially for those enrolled in a studio class.
“It’s getting into crunch time for review week,” she said.
Another stranded fourth-year landscape architecture student, Joshua Shaklee, was frustrated by the evacuation because he was slated to present his project later in the day, he said.
“This is cutting into my prep time,” Shaklee said.
Smith said he hopes the bomb threat was an isolated and random incident.
“This is unique, and I can’t remember the last time this happened,” he said.