Three Ivy League universities received bomb threats and ordered evacuations on Sunday, two days after a similar threat was called in for Yale.

Columbia University, Cornell University and Brown University received the threats on Sunday afternoon. Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins told the News that the YPD is aware of the threats being made against the other universities, and Higgins said he is in touch with the other Ivy League Chiefs. Higgins further stated that the caller who made threats to Yale on Friday did not provide a motive and that it is too early to say whether all the threats are connected. 

At 2:14 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Cornell posted a Twitter announcement to evacuate four buildings: the Goldwin Smith Hall, Upson Hall, Kennedy Hall and the Cornell Law School. The university advised students to stay away from the buildings. It confirmed at 3:40 p.m. that police received a call of bombs being placed in multiple buildings. The university announced later at 4 p.m. that the campus law enforcement is on site and investigating a campus bomb threat. By Sunday evening, all evacuated buildings had been cleared for re-entry.

Around 3 p.m. the same afternoon, the Columbia Daily Spectator reported that three university buildings were being evacuated due to a bomb threat, with the university advising students to stay away until further notice. 

The Daily Spectator reported that the evacuations were allegedly in response to tweets in which a user claimed that they, along with another individual, were armed with AR-15’s and had placed 40 explosives around campus in multiple locations. 

At 4:44 p.m., Columbia announced that the police completed their investigation and cleared Lerner Hall, Carman Hall and Butler Hall and allowed students to reenter the buildings.

Two hours after the threats at Columbia and Cornell, Brown announced a bomb threat in multiple campus buildings and evacuated all buildings on the Main Green. The university announced that Brown and Providence Police are investigating multiple buildings. Around 5:45 p.m., students received a Brown Alert that all buildings have been cleared and to resume normal activity.

The New Haven Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Miami University and Ohio University also received similar bomb threats on Saturday afternoon according to 10 WBNS and the Miami Student. A Cleveland State University law building received a bomb threat Thursday evening according to Cleveland19 News. All three campuses were later cleared with no threats found. 

On Friday afternoon around 2 p.m., the New Haven Police Dispatch informed Yale of a person that had phoned claiming to place 40 bombs in multiple locations across campus.

The Yale Police Department evacuated Bass Library, Bingham Hall, Branford College, Grace Hopper College, Jonathan Edwards College, Saybrook College, University Theater, Vanderbilt Hall, Welch Hall, and the Yale Art Gallery. Five hours later, the Yale Police Department announced that “there is no validity to the bomb threat made against Yale” and campus resumed normal operations.

Update, 11.7, This story has been updated with a comment from YPD Chief Ronnell Higgins on behalf of the YPD and the University’s Office of Public Affairs and Communication.

SAI RAYALA
Sai Rayala reports on Yale-New Haven relations. She previously covered climate and environmental efforts in New Haven. Originally from Powell, Ohio, she is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College majoring in History.