On Monday, October 23, Hascall Hall was taped off and authorities were called due to what an email to the Colgate community called a “suspicious package.”

The email, sent at 11:31 a.m., read, “In an abundance of caution, the building has been evacuated, and access to the building has been suspended until further notice.” It advised that students with class in the building contact their professors.

By 12:23 p.m., a second email was sent to the Colgate community confirming that Hascall Hall was all clear.

The package in question was sent to Administrative Assistant for the Department of Philosophy and Linguistics Program Leialoha Mara.

“The package was addressed to me, but it only included my first name, and I did not know the sender. I thought it was suspicious,” she said. 

Gough indicated that Mara opened the package and found that the substance inside the package was also suspicious. It has been sent to a state laboratory for analysis, but results are not yet back. 

Mara then took the standard safety protocol steps to address the situation.

“I was following the standard guideline of, ‘If you see something, say something,’ so I notified Campus Safety,” she said. 

Dan Gough, acting associate vice president for Campus Safety, Emergency Management, and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), explained how the investigation, which is ongoing, was carried out.

“Campus Safety and EHSresponded to the scene and, wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE), safely contained the item.  The building was then evacuated until the suspicious package could be removed off-site by hazardous material (HAZMAT) technicians.  The nature of the substance is still not known and the case is under investigation,” he said. 

Gough also expressed satisfaction with the handling of the incident. 

“I am happy to report that this incident was expertly handled by our staff, in partnership with outside agencies, to ensure the safety of all those involved.  As a result, there were no injuries and minimal interruption to campus operations,” he said.  

Contact Sarah Anderson at [email protected].