Campus Alert Archive
Columbia Chicago

An Intoxicated Anonymous Caller Phoned the Registrar's Office at Chicago's Arts College, and Three Floors Were Evacuated for a Canine Sweep

ILbomb threatemergency notificationmedium confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

On October 27, 2016, an anonymous caller described as intoxicated made a bomb threat to the Registrar's Office at Columbia College Chicago, prompting the Office of Campus Safety and Security and the Chicago Police Department to evacuate the fifth through seventh floors of 600 S. Michigan Avenue and deploy a canine unit for a search. No explosive device was found, and no injuries were reported. The incident was not the last bomb threat the downtown arts school would receive.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Columbia College Chicago
Private Bachelors · IL
~8,000 studentsColumbia College Chicago Campus Safety Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstructionPatch Chicago (paraphrased campus alert content from October 2016 incident)169 chars
Campus Safety and Security is responding to a bomb threat at 600 S. Michigan. Floors 5 through 7 are being evacuated for a canine search. Please avoid the affected area.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The bomb threat was phoned into the Registrar's Office by an anonymous caller whom campus safety described as intoxicated
The evacuation targeted only floors 5 through 7 of 600 S. Michigan, the building that houses the Registrar among other administrative offices, rather than triggering a whole-campus evacuation
Alert text is reconstructed from Patch Chicago coverage; the verbatim wording of the Campus Safety alert is not preserved in publicly available sources
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstructionThe Columbia Chronicle (October 2016 bomb threat coverage)128 chars
The canine search of 600 S. Michigan, floors 5 through 7, has been completed. No threat was found. Normal operations may resume.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The all-clear followed the canine unit's clearance of the evacuated floors at 600 S. Michigan Avenue
No suspect was identified; the intoxicated anonymous caller was never taken into custody
Text is a plausible reconstruction; the exact all-clear wording from the Campus Safety Alert is not preserved in publicly available sources
Context

Background

Columbia College Chicago is a private arts and media college in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, enrolling roughly 8,000 students in film, music, journalism, fashion, theater, and fine arts programs. Its main building at 600 S. Michigan Avenue sits on Chicago's lakefront museum campus strip. On October 27, 2016, an anonymous caller who was described as intoxicated phoned the Registrar's Office with a bomb threat, triggering an evacuation of the fifth through seventh floors and a canine search by the Office of Campus Safety and Security and the Chicago Police Department. No device was found and no one was arrested. The 2016 incident foreshadowed a second bomb threat in July 2018, when an emailed threat alleged that bombs had been placed 'around' the campus and were set to detonate the following evening; in that case the college remained open while police investigated. The archive includes both threats to document the pattern of hoax bomb threats directed at arts and media institutions in the post-2015 wave. The October 2016 case is notable for the phone-call delivery method and the partial-floor evacuation response, contrasting with the 2018 email threat that produced no evacuation at all.
Outcome
The canine search of the fifth through seventh floors of 600 S. Michigan Avenue found no explosive device. No injuries were reported and no one was taken into custody.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Bomb Threat Made Against Columbia College's Registrar's Office - Patch Chicago
    patch.com
  2. Student Paper
    Campus community alerted of bomb threat - The Columbia Chronicle
    columbiachronicle.com
Tags
arts-collegefilm-schoolmusic-schoolbomb-threatphone-threatchicagoillinoissouth-loopspecialty-institutionpartial-evacuationUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion