Thirty Bomb Threats

At Pamela's Diner in Oakland, I was maneuvering my fork across the table to steal some of Dave's crêpe-style pancakes when my phone beeped.

"A bomb threat has been received for the Hillman library, Sennott Square and Benedum Hall. Please evacuate. If safe to do so please tell others of this message."

This morning, the bomb threat count reached thirty. 

For several weeks now the University of Pittsburgh's campus has been routinely terrorized by anonymous bomb threats. At first only academic buildings had been threatened, and it was easy to attribute their cause to an irresponsible student who would rather sunbathe in Schenley Plaza than sit through an exam. Then bomb threat #12 was found, and for the first time a residence building was the target. Litchfield Towers A, B, and C were evacuated in the early hours of the morning, leaving nearly 2,000 students (mostly freshmen) drowsy and homeless. The reward for information was raised from $10,000 to $50,000 and the student body became very uneasy. The FBI arrived. The person(s) responsible switched from leaving warnings scrawled on bathroom stalls or slips of paper to bouncing emails to journalists containing threats off of European servers.

I am upset that in my last semester as a Pitt student I am threatened with violence at least once each day. I love Pittsburgh and Pitt's campus, and I genuinely want to attend my classes. In the last three and a half years I have always felt secure here, and it's a shame to mar that happy record now. It just doesn't feel fair.

The university has been forced to adopt new security measures. Faculty have been asked to give students the option of finishing their courses online from home. We are all trying to be as flexible and calm as possible. My roommates and I have offered our couch to frightened freshmen friends, and this is beginning to happen on a larger scale. An ad hoc campus couch surfing community has been established in the form of a Facebook group called the Pitt ENS Couch Surfing Network. Through this network underclassmen who are afraid to sleep in their dorm can connect with upperclassmen who have apartments nearby and an available sofa.

I hope that the local police, campus security, handwriting experts, FBI, and whoever else can finally locate the source of the threats and end the terrorism. I hope to bring you smiling photos of my graduation day in three weeks with the Cathedral of Learning in the background.

Until then: