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St. Xavier Plays It Safe, Closes Campuses

Students Say Better Safe Than Sorry After Graffiti Threats

CHICAGO (CBS) ― It was an unprecedented move for St. Xavier University. Every student was ordered to leave its three campuses by noon Saturday after death threats were found in a residence hall.

The scribbled threats said, "Get ready to die on April 14th."

School officials were taking no chances after the tragedy at NIU. CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports on the shut down.

Chicago Police and campus security made sure all students obeyed the evacuation order.

The university is housing some at hotels. But others are heading home wondering what happens next, academically, since there's no date for classes to resume.

"They just told me I needed to vacate the area," said Jared Kain from Des Moines, Iowa.

A knock at the door from Oak Lawn Police got Kain, a senior at St. Xavier, out of the shower Saturday.

Minutes later, Kain packed his laundry for the long drive home to Iowa with threats at the school weighing on his mind.

"Personally, I think it could have some substance behind it because I know all the things that we go through as students at this school and it really does get to you. I mean I take it seriously," Kain said.

Real enough to empty Regina Hall, a freshman residence hall where the university says two cases of threatening graffiti were found April 5 and April 10.

The move to evacuate the school comes months after the deadly shootings at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

"People who graduated from Xavier agree closing the school is a necessary safety measure," said St. Xavier University president Judith A. Dwyer.

"We have to. It's happening over and over and over again and we have to take those precautions," said 2004 St. Xavier graduate Mindy Carroll.

"Obviously it's better to be safe than sorry, but most of the students like me most of my friends here we're not too worried about it yet," said student Anisha Mathew. "I actually think it's some goofy student trying to get out of his final exams or something."

Saint Xavier University, which has campuses in Chicago and Orland Park, announced all classes are canceled for the school's 5,700 students. But community events held on campus are still scheduled. 

At 11:45 a.m. Saturday, all students still on campus were to board buses which will take them to hotels provided by the university.

Students began evacuating dorms on Friday.

In a statement released on the university's Web site Friday evening,  Dwyer said: "The University commits itself to practicing eight core values as it engages in a search for truth and knowledge. We commit to the values of Respect, Excellence, Compassion, Service, Hospitality, Integrity, Diversity, and Learning for Life.

"Two instances of threatening graffiti found on April 5 and April 10 in Regina Hall, a freshman residence hall, have violated the spirit of these values."

"In this day and age, given Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, when you have a threat made against students or other members of the university community, you have to take steps to ensure that everyone is safe," university spokesman Joe Moore said Friday. "Even if that means erring on the side of being overly cautious."

Moore declined to give more details of what the graffiti looked like and where the messages were found exactly, citing an ongoing investigation.

Security has been increased on campus, including the use of Chicago police and the FBI, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

"We continue to monitor the situation with our federal partners and we have increased security around the area as a precaution," Bond said.

No one was in custody in connection with the threats on Saturday.

"During this process we have relied heavily on the advice and direction of our dedicated law enforcement agencies to ensure that actions and communications regarding this matter protect the safety of all involved," Dwyer said.

Graffiti was first found April 5 in a bathroom stall at the coed dorm. The message was of a "threatening but nonspecific nature," the school said in a statement.

The incident was reported to campus authorities and Chicago police. Saint Xavier increased staff at the residence hall, which houses about 245 students, and discussed the incident with the people who lived there, officials said.

Moore said many students were interviewed and the dorm hosted group discussions to reassure students.

Then officials found the second message referencing the threat for Monday.

"Officers have conducted an aggressive investigation throughout the week," according to the university's statement. "The investigation remains open at this time."

Campuses around Illinois have been on alert since a Valentine's Day shooting when a gunman burst into a lecture hall at NIU, killing five students and wounding 18 others before turning the gun on himself.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested a University of Illinois at Chicago student in late February for allegedly making e-mail threats of a "mass shooting" on the UIC campus. She was charged with one count of making threats through use of interstate commerce.

And Illinois State University said in late February police were investigating graffiti found in a dorm bathroom that referenced the NIU incident. The graffiti was scrawled in black marker on a toilet-paper dispenser and read "ISU is the next NIU."

CBS 2's Mike Parker and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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