After a string of bomb threats on five college campuses during the past two weeks, Athens officials encourage students, faculty and staff to remain vigilant and aware of evacuation procedures.
Investigations of the threats, which reached as close as northeast Ohio, are still ongoing, but it is unclear if the incidents are related. University Police Chief Andrew Powers and his department are monitoring the situation closely, according to a campuswide email.
In the event of a bomb threat, students, faculty and staff would be evacuated from the area, said Rick Amweg, director of Campus Safety and Security for the Ohio Board of Regents.
“It’s important to understand that campus evacuations are very situational,” Amweg said. “(The evacuations) could differ from the entire campus, to a whole section of campus, or to a specific building on campus.”
The best way to know the severity of any situation is to follow the updates from the emergency notification system, which sends text messages to students’ cell phones, Amweg said.
“Every student should already be signed up for (the notification system), unless they have specifically opted out of it, which they should definitely not do,” Amweg said.
Amweg also advises students to become familiar with the OU Campus Emergency Guide so they know what to expect if an emergency scenario were to occur on campus.
Several agencies would respond in the event of a bomb threat on campus, said Todd Lindgren, Public Affairs Specialist for the FBI’s Cincinnati division.
“I would imagine if there was some sort of bomb threat in Athens, multiple police forces and the local FBI would be involved in some way,” he said.
OU has not needed to evacuate any portion of campus as a result of a bomb threat in the past five years, Powers said in an email.
The only recent instance related to a possible bomb threat was in early November 2009. Baker University Center closed two hours early after a suspicious message was found in a bathroom, Powers said. No suspicious devices were found.
“I would remind everyone that it’s a good idea to be calm and alert,” Lindgren said. “People are generally pretty observant and should notice if something seems out of place.”
Students are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to Ohio University Police at 740-593-1911 or to call OU’s Critical Incident Response Team at 740-597-1800 for more information on the situation.
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