University of Utah investigating bomb threat against Black Cultural Center

The bomb threat occurred just a week after similar incidents at eight historically Black colleges across the country. Photo: Dave Titensor // The University of Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah Police are investigating reports of a bomb threat made against the school’s Black Cultural Center on Tuesday morning.

Early on Tuesday, a crisis center call line in California received a call alleging a bomb was placed in the cultural center in Fort Douglas.

“Officers immediately responded at 4:25 a.m. with bomb-sniffing dogs and searched the building,” the university said in a statement.

“Officers confirmed that the building was unoccupied, no bomb was found, and the building was secured. Because there was no immediate threat to life, the police chief determined a ‘timely warning’ through the campus alert system was not necessary.”

“The University of Utah is not a haven for this kind of hateful and biased thinking and attacks, and university leaders have committed to completing a thorough review with actionable steps to be implemented during the spring semester.

“This assault on the security of our Black students, faculty, and staff requires sensitivity, compassion, and timely action. We will provide more information as it becomes available. The incident was also reported to the Racist & Bias Incident Response Team.”

The incident comes after similar bomb threats that occurred last week at eight historically Black colleges, including Howard University and Xavier University of Louisiana. Evacuations and lockdowns happened at those schools in response to the threats.

Several racist incidents occurred at the University of Utah during the fall semester. One event involved a group of men dressed like the KKK with white hooded robes walking into a dormitory. In a separate incident, a Black student reported what appeared to be feces smeared on their door.

University of Utah President Taylor Randall addressed the racist incidents in December, saying, “We regret that our process for addressing racist and biased incidents on our campus did not work as would want it to and accept responsibility for this shortcoming.”