'Bong' threat prompts evacuation

Author: Daniel L.J. Phillips

Public Safety confirmed earlier this week that the anonymous student who allegedly called in a bomb threat at Gifford Hall on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 25, was referring to a "bong," not a bomb, outside a particular student's room.

Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah sent out an e-mail last Saturday notifying the Middlebury College community that the supposed bomb threat - called in from one of the emergency phones in Gifford - was a hoax intended to elicit the response of Public Safety.

In an interview with The Middlebury Campus, Boudah said that Public Safety has determined the identity of the male resident in Gifford who made the call, but she declined to comment on the disciplinary procedures that will follow.

"That's not something that's open for the public to understand the process. Right now, a lot of information is being shared with the Commons Dean, but I'm not sure what's going to be done," she said. "We want to make sure that people understand as much of the general information that they can. From there, I can't speculate as to what would be happening."

Boudah has spoken with the individual responsible. She said that while the Public Safety officer and telecommunications operator both suspected the caller was a student, because his statement was not clearly articulated, they were not certain whether there was a serious bomb threat situation.

"We were able to determine that the caller did not intend to make that kind of report. His intentions were different than that, but it was difficult to understand at the time," she said. As Boudah explained in her message to the College community, "the Public Safety staff based their response on the worst-case scenario in the interest of protecting life."

Boudah noted that Public Safety had intended to include in the crime alert e-mail that the word "bong" was actually said in the caller's statement because it might have shown why it was difficult to understand. "But given the family weekend on campus," said Boudah, "we didn't want everything to shift to the new situation."

According to Director of Telephone Services Peggy Fischel, the emergency phone system used by the anonymous caller has been set up at certain campus locations for nearly 20 years now. Public Safety does receive a small volume of calls from these phones, but most are from students who are not in need of emergency assistance.

"Overall, I think, the system works," said Boudah. "It was in place when there were fewer phones in the residence halls. There could be some with signs that say they dial directly to Public Safety, but some of those are missing," she said.

Boudah explained that the alleged bomb threat in Gifford was a different scenario. "I think it was a misuse of the phone... Every once in a while we have other people misusing the phone, but they don't stay on the line very long. I wouldn't want to discourage people from reaching out for us. Just do it in an appropriate way," she added.

More disconcerting for Public Safety is the number of incidents that probably go unreported.

"Students are either reluctant or unwilling to call us. Maybe they talk to other people - maybe they don't talk to anybody," said Boudah.

The issue is now being handled by the Wonnacott Commons Dean's Office, which chose not to comment on the status of the investigation or the disciplinary proceedings to follow.