Campus Alert Archive
Holy Cross

Jesuit College Sweeps Mount St. James After Bomb Threat — All Clear in Two Hours

MAbomb threatemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed HoaxDetermined to be a hoax. The institutional response is documented because it reveals how the alert system performed under a perceived real threat.

On January 10, 2024, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts evacuated targeted buildings on its Mount St. James campus after receiving a bomb threat around 1:00 PM EST. Worcester Police, Worcester Fire, and the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad responded; an initial risk assessment was rated 'low,' and a thorough sweep found no suspicious devices. The all-clear was issued just before 3:00 PM EST.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
College of the Holy Cross
Private Liberal Arts · MA
~3,162 studentsHoly Cross Public Safety Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimCollege of the Holy Cross official X (Twitter) account241 chars
Holy Cross Public Safety, the Worcester Police and Fire Departments, and the Massachusetts State Police are on scene evacuating and searching certain buildings on campus due to a bomb threat. Early assessment suggests the threat risk is low.
Posted on the College of the Holy Cross verified X (Twitter) account around 1:00 PM EST on January 10, 2024
The phrase 'early assessment suggests the threat risk is low' was an unusually direct way to frame an active bomb-threat evacuation, hinting at staff knowledge that the threat resembled the wave of hoax bomb threats sweeping U.S. campuses
Holy Cross is the only Jesuit Catholic college in New England outside of Boston College, with ~3,200 students on a single hilltop campus in Worcester
ALL CLEARTwitter/X+1h 55m
Verified verbatimBoston.com, quoting the College of the Holy Cross all-clear statement verbatim121 chars
Public Safety has issued an all clear for campus. The College is returning to normal operations, effectively immediately.
Quoted verbatim from Boston.com's reporting — the college's typo 'effectively immediately' is preserved as published
The two-hour sweep included multiple buildings on the Mount St. James campus, with Worcester Fire and the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad assisting Holy Cross Public Safety
The college never publicly disclosed which buildings were targeted, though news photos showed police staging near the Hogan Campus Center
Context

Background

On a quiet Wednesday during winter break, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts received a bomb threat that prompted the evacuation of multiple buildings on its 174-acre Mount St. James hilltop campus. Around 1:00 PM EST, Worcester Police, Worcester Fire, and the Massachusetts State Police responded alongside Holy Cross Public Safety. The college, the only Jesuit Catholic college in New England outside of Boston College, posted to its official X account within minutes, telling the community that 'early assessment suggests the threat risk is low.' Less than two hours later, just before 3:00 PM EST, Public Safety issued an all-clear after law enforcement completed a sweep and found nothing. The threat came during a period of elevated hoax bomb-threat activity at U.S. schools, hospitals, and houses of worship — including coordinated email threats against historically Black colleges and Jewish institutions — and Holy Cross's low-risk assessment language reflected the institutional learning that bomb threats during this period were overwhelmingly hoaxes designed to disrupt operations.
Analysis

Key Findings

Holy Cross publicly characterized the threat as 'low risk' in its very first community alert, an unusually candid framing reflecting the wave of hoax bomb threats nationwide
The full sweep — evacuation, search by city and state bomb squads, and all-clear — took under two hours, demonstrating a streamlined response on a single-campus liberal arts college
The incident occurred during winter break when most students were off campus, limiting the operational disruption that a hoax threat is typically designed to maximize
Outcome
Law enforcement completed a sweep of the targeted buildings and found no suspicious packages or hazards. Public Safety issued an all-clear at approximately 2:55 PM EST and the college returned to normal operations the same afternoon. The college did not publicly disclose how the threat was received or whether a suspect was identified.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    College of the Holy Cross bomb threat prompts evacuations (NBC Boston)
    nbcboston.com
  2. News
    Buildings on Holy Cross campus evacuated in response to bomb threat (Boston.com)
    boston.com
  3. News
    Holy Cross College in Worcester Evacuated Following Bomb Threat (Hoodline)
    hoodline.com
  4. Social
    College of the Holy Cross official X post (Jan. 10, 2024)
    twitter.com
Tags
bomb-threathoaxevacuationjesuitcatholicmassachusettsworcesterwinter-breaklow-riskprivate-liberal-artsHoax
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion