Residents at Alumni Hall were told to evacuate the building late Thursday night after the Department of Campus Safety received a false bomb threat report, according to an email from the residence hall sent to residents earlier this afternoon. 

In a written statement to WSN, university spokesperson John Beckman said Alumni was one of five NYU buildings named in the threat, although it was the only building that was occupied. Beckman added that “the matter is in police hands” and that if those involved in the threat were discovered to be affiliated with the university, they would be subject to its “disciplinary processes.”

“False bomb threats are not a prank, and NYU does not look at them as harmless,” Beckman said. “They are wrong on every level: they involve considerable disruption, require the dispatch of emergency personnel who may be needed elsewhere and they worry people needlessly.”  

Campus Safety received the threat at around 11 p.m. last night, immediately notifying the New York City Police Department and Fire Department. Beckman told WSN the university followed standard protocol and evacuated the building before being given the all-clear. In the email sent to Alumni residents, residence hall director Takisha Pierre said students were permitted to return to the building at around 1:45 a.m.

“We evacuated the building until it was fully inspected by emergency services personnel,” Pierre wrote in the Friday email. “The police and fire departments determined there was no danger, the threat was unfounded and the building is safe.”

Adrianna Nehme contributed reporting.

Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].