WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College Thursday briefly closed its campus and sent all non-essential employees home for the day after a reported bomb threat that later was deemed to be "not credible."
Late Thursday morning, the college sent an alert to its employees that the school was investigating a threat to several college buildings and ordering the evacuation of Faculty House, the Paresky Center, Mission dorm and "athletics and all libraries."
By about 11:45 a.m., the college released the same information in a post on social media, and shortly before noon, it announced on "X" (formerly Twitter), "Please evacuate and avoid area until further notice."
Just after 2 p.m., the school announced to its personnel that, "The bomb threat was determined to be not credible."
The school said that dining services would be available for the small number of students on campus for the summer term from 2 to 7 p.m. at Faculty House and that faculty and staff who needed to access their offices on Thursday could do so after 3 p.m.
All buildings and offices were slated to be open for business as usual on Friday morning.
This was the second apparent false alarm on campus in the last couple of months. In May, a suspicious package reported in the college's science center led to the evacuation of some buildings and a visit from the State Police bomb squad.
This time around, the college did not indicate finding any objects related to the threat.
A college spokesperson said in an email correspondence: "After a thorough investigation, and in collaboration with the Williamstown Police Department, the Williamstown Fire Department, the Commonwealth Fusion Center, the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad and Northern Berkshire EMS, the college identified the threat as not credible. The college is aware that at least two other colleges received similar bomb threats."
During the last evacuation, town first responders closed a road near the science center. This time, as traffic proceeded normally throughout the incident on Park Street, which is flanked by two of the buildings mentioned in a college Tweet, Paresky and Faculty House.
The first indication of a return to normalcy on Thursday came at about 1:25 p.m., when college Dining Services personnel began returning to Faculty House. One employee said they had received the "all clear" about 20 minutes prior to their return.
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Williams' Kirshe, U.S. Women Earn Historic Bronze Medal
In dramatic fashion Tuesday, the U.S. women's rugby sevens and Williams College graduate Kristi Kirshe beat Australia, 14-12, to win the bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
Alex Sedrick made a run from deep in the Americans' defensive zone for a try with time expired to erase a 12-7Si deficit against the favored Aussies.
Kirshe, who dominated Team USA's quarter-final victory on Monday to get to the medal round, started and played the length of Tuesday's semi-final loss and the third-place win.
After Australia, the 2016 gold medalist, was shocked by Canada in the semi-finals, the Wallabies jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes of the bronze match.
With just more than a minute left in the first half, America's Alev Kelter scored a try off a restart from the 5-meter line, and the conversion tied the score, 7-7, going to half-time.
Early in the second half, Australia appeared to be going in for a try to take the lead, but a fumble through the try zone gave the ball back to the Americans.
Australia did break through about three minutes later, scoring with 1 minute, 41 seconds left on the clock to take the 12-7 lead.
The exhibit, "Edgar Degas: Multi-Media Artist in the Age of Impressionism," coincides with the 150th anniversary of the first impressionist exhibition, which was held in Paris in 1874.
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The Select Board on Monday discussed how the town communicates to residents during an emergency and whether residents unaffiliated with Williams College should have access to the same information as college students and staff about incidents on campus. click for more
The Prudential Committee on Wednesday discussed the need for a policy for all call-volunteer firefighters who reach the state's mandatory retirement age.
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The Select Board on Monday was told that it should let the people who walk their dogs in the Spruces Park decide how the 114-acre town-owned park is managed. click for more