School's Out
Threats Close Chicagoland Schools
Chris McCluster
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News
During April, five Chicagoland colleges faced what the Chicago Tribune reported as, "Acts of modern day cowardice." St. Xavier University, Malcolm X College, South Suburban College, Northern Illinois University (NIU) and DePaul University were forced to evacuate and terminate classes, because of anonymous violent threats found within the schools.
The first was found in the form of graffiti on a bathroom wall at St. Xavier on April 5. A more specific tag on the same stall days later read, "Be prepared to die on 4/14." This caused greater concern for university officials. Xavier student Roni Facen said,
they "downplayed the severity of the writing in each email sent to us."
Two days later, Malcolm X, one of the seven City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), faced an issue of the same nature, also on a bathroom
wall. "We had no idea what was going on," Malcolm X student Colin Agunobi said. "No one would tell us anything. We just were told
classes were canceled and to check back later to see when they would resume."
Later that week South Suburban, in South Holland, Ill was closed because of "unspecified" threats of violence. "I was
told everything would be okay, and that it was just a precaution," South Suburban student Michelle Kalemba said.
The day following the South Suburban incident and just two months after the tragic shootings, NIU received a bomb threat. The school was evacuated for nearly
two hours after a piece of paper indicating a bomb would go off in the building at a specified time was found, spokeswoman Melanie
Magara said. "But we [students] just heard it was another threat," NIU student Tokumbo 'T.J.' Alimi said.
On Monday Apr. 22, a second bomb threat caused the evacuation of two of DePaul's Loop
campus buildings. The Chicago Tribune reported this incident at 5:24 p.m., but DePaul's website didn't announce the canceling of classes until 6:40 p.m., according to Police News Affairs Officer
John Mirabelli, "I don't know if anyone here
The first was found in the form of graffiti on a bathroom wall at St. Xavier on April 5. A more specific tag on the same stall days later read, "Be prepared to die on 4/14." This caused greater concern for university officials. Xavier student Roni Facen said,
they "downplayed the severity of the writing in each email sent to us."
Two days later, Malcolm X, one of the seven City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), faced an issue of the same nature, also on a bathroom
wall. "We had no idea what was going on," Malcolm X student Colin Agunobi said. "No one would tell us anything. We just were told
classes were canceled and to check back later to see when they would resume."
Later that week South Suburban, in South Holland, Ill was closed because of "unspecified" threats of violence. "I was
told everything would be okay, and that it was just a precaution," South Suburban student Michelle Kalemba said.
The day following the South Suburban incident and just two months after the tragic shootings, NIU received a bomb threat. The school was evacuated for nearly
two hours after a piece of paper indicating a bomb would go off in the building at a specified time was found, spokeswoman Melanie
Magara said. "But we [students] just heard it was another threat," NIU student Tokumbo 'T.J.' Alimi said.
On Monday Apr. 22, a second bomb threat caused the evacuation of two of DePaul's Loop
campus buildings. The Chicago Tribune reported this incident at 5:24 p.m., but DePaul's website didn't announce the canceling of classes until 6:40 p.m., according to Police News Affairs Officer
John Mirabelli, "I don't know if anyone here
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