Evergreen State College has reopened after angry protests over race have drawn national attention.
Evergreen State shut down on Thursday, June 1, after someone called the county 911 line and said he had a .44 magnum and was headed to campus to “execute as many people on that campus as I can get ahold of.”
The Olympia, Washington public school reopened over the weekend but was forced to shut down temporarily again Monday.
Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza said school officials were responding to the threat from last week as well as an incident Sunday night. “They have had people walking around with sticks and baseball bats late at night causing property damage,” including graffiti and broken windows, he said Monday. “They asked us to come out and assist.”
He said campus police told him there was about $10,000 worth of property damage.
The Evergreen State College Police Department referred questions to a college spokesman, Zach Powers, who did not immediately have answers to questions about the property damage.
Evergreen State College, which has a student body of about 4,500 students, began receiving national attention after a video of protests over race on campus went viral.
In May, students confronted a professor who had objected to a request by school officials that white people consider avoiding campus on a day of discussions about race. The protesters accused him of racism and demanded that he be fired.
On Monday, school officials announced that law enforcement officials had been examining information received over the weekend and campus was closed on Monday to give law enforcement an opportunity to evaluate new information.
“At Evergreen, campus safety is our number-one priority. After consultation with law enforcement today, we have determined there is no active threat to campus. We are ready to get back to the business of teaching and learning,” Evergreen President George Bridges said in a statement.
