Harvard Police Reopen Memorial Hall After Bomb Threat Prompts Shelter-in-Place Order

The Harvard University Police Department responded to a bomb threat at Memorial Hall Monday morning, prompting the University to issue a shelter-in-place order for people near the building.

Harvard sent an emergency alert around 8:45 a.m., instructing affiliates near Memorial Hall to shelter in place and telling others to avoid the area until further notice.

HUPD lifted the shelter-in-place order around 9:20 a.m., but advised affiliates to continue avoiding Memorial Hall and the nearby Zimmer Hall plaza. At 10:18 a.m., HUPD also closed Memorial Church, which sits inside Harvard Yard, “out of an abundance of caution.” Barriers were then placed in the Yard blocking the entrances to Memorial Church as police concentrated at Memorial Hall.

More than three hours later, HUPD issued its final alert and reopened Memorial Hall and Memorial Church just after 12:30 p.m. The investigation remained ongoing, according to the alert.

Students were blocked from entering Memorial Hall throughout Monday morning as police and emergency personnel responded to the threat and established a perimeter around the building. In a 10:05 a.m. alert, HUPD said Memorial Hall remained closed and told affiliates to continue avoiding the area, adding that another update would come “within the hour.”

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano did not immediately respond to a request for additional details about the closures or investigation.

Some classes in adjacent Zimmer Hall continued as scheduled Monday morning, while others were canceled because of the threat. LPS A: “Foundational Chemistry and Biology,” a large introductory life sciences course that meets at 9 a.m., was canceled at 9:24 a.m. because of HUPD’s warning to avoid the plaza, according to an announcement to students.

Classes held at 10:30 a.m. were also disrupted. Students in Econ 10A: “Introduction to Microeconomics,” which meets in Sanders Theatre in Memorial Hall, were told the class would be held remotely because of the order to avoid the area. SOCIOL 1156: “Statistics for the Social Sciences,” which meets in William James Hall about a block from Memorial Hall, was also canceled because of the threat.

Students in ECON 1010A: “Intermediate Microeconomics,” held in Zimmer Hall at 10:30 a.m., were told 10 minutes before class that lecture would continue as scheduled because the building “is not closed.”

Professors also shifted course meetings in nearby buildings later in the day. GENED 1074: “The Ancient Greek Hero” was moved online, rather than meeting in Zimmer Hall at noon. ARABIC BA: “Intermediate Arabic I,” held in Lowell Lecture Hall, which sits across the street from Memorial Hall, also had its noon meeting moved online.

Memorial Hall adjoins Annenberg Hall, the College’s first-year dining hall, and is centrally located between Harvard Yard and Zimmer Hall. Students in Annenberg were evacuated Monday morning, and the building remained closed.

Annenberg and Fly-By, the College’s to-go dining option located in the basement of Memorial Hall, were closed for lunch while the buildings remained closed. First-year students were reassigned to one of Harvard’s 12 upperclassmen dining halls, divided by their first-year dorm, according to the Harvard dining services website.

The Cambridge Police Department assisted with the investigation and closures, but CPD spokesperson Jennie Lopez wrote that HUPD was “leading the investigation.”

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at ClaireMichal.154.