Campus Alert Archive
R-MC

Ashland Police Close the Streets Around McGraw-Page Library: Randolph-Macon Joins the Post-ODU Virginia Bomb-Threat Wave

VAbomb threatemergency notificationmedium 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.

Around 2:30 p.m. EDT on March 13, 2026, Randolph-Macon College evacuated the McGraw-Page Library and two adjacent classroom buildings after an emailed bomb threat. Ashland Police and Hanover County emergency officials closed nearby streets and instructed the public to avoid the area. The threat was one of five at Virginia colleges that day, coming less than 30 hours after the deadly ROTC-targeted shooting at Old Dominion University. The McGraw-Page Library was cleared at 3:20 p.m. and no explosive device was found.

Alerts
2
Response
min
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Randolph-Macon College
Private Liberal Arts · VA
~1,500 studentsR-MC 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 ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction280 chars
R-MC ALERT: A bomb threat has been received targeting McGraw-Page Library. Evacuate McGraw-Page Library and the surrounding area immediately. Ashland Police and Hanover County Sheriff's Office are on scene. Avoid the area. Further updates will be issued through official channels.

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

Issued mid-afternoon, after Bridgewater (12:47 p.m.) and UVA (11:49 a.m.) — Randolph-Macon was the late-afternoon target in the Friday wave
The decision to evacuate two classroom buildings in addition to the library reflects an 'abundance of caution' posture characteristic of small-campus emergency-management practice
Ashland Police closed nearby streets — a notable extension of the response footprint beyond the campus boundary
Randolph-Macon is a private liberal-arts college with ~1,500 students — similar in size to Bridgewater, also targeted that day
The threat-email pattern matched four other Virginia campuses that Friday, suggesting a coordinated hoax actor
ALL CLEARSMS+50 min
Approximate reconstruction230 chars
R-MC ALERT: McGraw-Page Library and surrounding buildings have been cleared by law enforcement. No device was located. The all clear has been issued. Normal operations are resuming. Thank you to our community for your cooperation.

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

Issued approximately 50 minutes after the initial alert — typical for a focused single-building bomb sweep without K-9 transport delay
Explicitly thanks the community — a small-college tonal signature that reflects the close-knit institutional culture
Issued before George Mason's all-clear at 3:45 p.m., despite Randolph-Macon's threat coming in later — reflects the smaller blast radius of a liberal-arts campus
Context

Background

Randolph-Macon College is a private liberal-arts college of approximately 1,500 students in Ashland, Virginia, about 16 miles north of Richmond. Its central library, the McGraw-Page Library, sits at the heart of the campus. On March 13, 2026, less than 30 hours after a gunman attacked an ROTC class at Old Dominion University and was killed by ROTC students, Randolph-Macon received an emailed bomb threat targeting McGraw-Page Library. The college evacuated the library and two adjacent classroom buildings around 2:30 p.m. EDT. Ashland Police and Hanover County emergency officials closed nearby streets and instructed the public to avoid the campus perimeter. Randolph-Macon was the fourth of five Virginia colleges hit that day; the wave also struck UVA (Shannon Library), George Mason (Fenwick Library), Bridgewater (Forrer Learning Commons), and Longwood (Greenwood Library), and Shenandoah University evacuated its library after an unspecified 'active threat.' Virginia State Police and the FBI are investigating the origin of the emails, which reportedly appear to have come from outside the country. The McGraw-Page Library was cleared by 3:20 p.m. — about 50 minutes after the initial alert. This case is significant in the archive as part of the post-ODU-ROTC-attack copycat wave: a wave in which the proximate trigger was an attack on a military-training program, but the day-after threats targeted academic libraries — an oblique displacement that put small liberal-arts colleges like Randolph-Macon at active-threat tempo over an emailed hoax.
Analysis

Key Findings

Randolph-Macon was one of five Virginia colleges hit by emailed bomb threats on March 13, 2026 — the day after the ODU ROTC-targeted shooting
Ashland Police closed nearby streets, extending the response footprint beyond the campus boundary — characteristic of small-town college towns
The decision to evacuate two classroom buildings adjacent to McGraw-Page Library reflects an abundance-of-caution posture characteristic of small-campus emergency-management
Randolph-Macon is a private liberal-arts college with ~1,500 students — among the smallest institutions on the March 13 Virginia bomb-threat wave
The McGraw-Page Library was cleared in about 50 minutes, faster than larger campuses like George Mason
Outcome
McGraw-Page Library and two nearby classroom buildings were cleared by approximately 3:20 p.m. EDT. No device was found. Ashland Police, Hanover County Sheriff's Office, Virginia State Police, and the FBI are investigating the origin of the emailed threat, which appears to be part of a coordinated wave hitting five Virginia colleges on March 13, 2026.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Multiple bomb threats at Virginia colleges following ODU shooting — VPM
    vpm.org
  2. News
    Multiple bomb threats at Virginia colleges following ODU shooting — WHRO
    whro.org
  3. Student Paper
    Five Virginia universities, including U.Va., targeted by bomb threats Friday — Cavalier Daily
    cavalierdaily.com
  4. News
    Virginia colleges receive a rash of bomb threats — Washington Times
    washingtontimes.com
  5. News
    Bomb threats called in at multiple Virginia colleges and universities — WTVR
    wtvr.com
  6. Source
    Randolph-Macon College — Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
Tags
bomb-threathoaxlibraryevacuationvirginiapost-odu-waverotc-contextcoordinated-threatemail-threatprivate-collegeliberal-artsHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion