University of Texas reopens after bomb threat, but classes canceled

All buildings at the University of Texas at Austin were reopened Friday afternoon after a bomb threat earlier prompted a campus-wide evacuation, officials said.

The university grounds were cleared for reentry at noon, a campus police dispatcher told the Los Angeles Times.

“We are very confident the campus is safe,” said university President William Powers Jr. at a broadcast news briefing. He said university officials had worked with local, state and federal officials to assess the situation.

Classes were canceled for the day, but other scheduled activities were expected to resume after 5 p.m., according to a posting on the university’s website.

The evacuation order was issued at 9:30 a.m. CDT via email and the campus website and a university evacuation plan followed without incident, a spokeswoman said. At least 51,000 students are enrolled at the school, but it was unclear how many were on campus at the time of the evacuation.

The campus at North Dakota State University remained closed while authorities investigated a bomb threat at the Fargo campus.

[Updated, 11:07 a.m. PDT: The North Dakota State campus reopened at 1 p.m. local time.]

Meanwhile, Valparaiso University in Indiana issued a campus-wide alert in response to an unspecified threat of violence.

Authorities were investigating the incident. Classes remained in session and all regular activities remain scheduled, officials said.

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