University administration responds to rumors of campus threat

The University is communicating with students after rumors of a threat on campus this morning.

In an email sent by the dean of students at 1:23 this afternoon, the university said it is “aware of information from students.”

“Thank you to those who have shared your concerns,” the email said. “We take such reports very seriously. The university has procedures in place and is providing resources to address the situation.”

Tena Haraldson, director of communications, said there’s “no increased threat at this time.”

“We’re aware that there’s been phone calls to campus and some information on social media today about an alleged threat on campus,” Haraldson said. “We take those reports very seriously. We have investigated it.”

Haraldson said university police been following up with the students that reported an incident.

“When reports like this come into university police they will investigate and try to determine to know what exactly someone has seen or reported and try and get to the bottom of it,” Haraldson said. “We’re going beyond just verifying whether or not the threats reported are justified. We go beyond that to university procedures to assist either the reporting students or the other students that may be involved to make sure everybody is okay.”

There is an ALICE training scheduled to be held in Coyote Village at 7 p.m. tomorrow. UPD Lt. Jef Rice has conducted them in the past and the purpose of the training is to educate students to “make good choices,” when it comes to an active shooter situation, Haraldson said.

“What (ALICE training) involves is just helping the average person to be aware to see things that may look suspicious or may indicate there’s some kind of a threat and how to react to best protect themselves,” Haraldson said. “In today’s environment, we continue to see situations with people who (are) using arms in a public place. The purpose of ALICE training is to get people prepared to help themselves react to something like that and make good choices.”

Extra security has been added on campus as a precaution, Haraldson said.