UConn Rec Center evacuated due to bomb threat on Sunday 

A note threatening the presence of an explosive was left inside the University of Connecticut Recreation Center on Sunday, March 9, resulting in a full evacuation. The building was fully evacuated and searched, but no danger was found inside. 

The evacuation occurred during Surf N’ Send, an annual bouldering competition hosted by UConn Rec. The event began around 10 a.m. and planned to go until 2:30 p.m. The competition was cut short at around 2:15 p.m. when an announcement came through on the intercom directing everyone inside the building to evacuate immediately and to leave their belongings behind. 

An anonymous member of the UConn Climbing Team noted that the staff seemed “worked up” for around 10 to 15 minutes before the evacuation was announced. 

“UConn Police were notified Sunday afternoon that a note had been found in the Student Recreation Center indicating an explosive was in the building,” UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said when contacted via email. “The center was evacuated and fully searched by specialized crews, who found no such item or other indicators of danger.” 

Although the Rec Center was closed for the rest of the day, it reopened the next day at 6 a.m. 

“The building was cleared to resume normal operations, and the police investigation continues into the note’s origins,” Reitz said. 

Alejandro Danburg, a second-semester student majoring in actuarial finance, was participating in the Surf N’ Send competition at the time of the evacuation. 

“When I was told to evacuate the climbing center, I initially mistook it for a fire alarm,” he said in an email. “I had heard about the bomb threat from others while the police kept us waiting outside. Another student informed me that there was a sticky note with a written bomb threat on one of the climbing walls.” 

The anonymous student added that, from what they had heard, the note had specifically been left on a slab wall, a type of non-vertical climbing wall. They had also heard that the note included the phrase “Don’t be a hero.” 

“The evacuation was a lot of confused people being rushed out,” the student said in a text conversation with The Daily Campus “We didn’t know why and we were all frustrated as the competition had 15 minutes left and finals were in an hour.” 

Danburg noted that the Rec Center staff were instructed to leave through a different exit than the rest of the people in the building.  

“Overall, the evacuation felt swift and orderly. The staff and officers maintained a calm demeanor and demonstrated an effective approach to safely evacuating a large crowd from the UConn Recreation building,” Danburg said. 

Danburg noted that some of the evacuees attempted to ask the Rec Center staff questions as they were leaving but were not given answers. 

“We had waited outside the Rec for several minutes without any information from anyone, the Rec staff, or the police,” Danburg said. He noted that many of the people waiting, including Danburg himself, were without shoes.  

“When they finally arrived, they only gave us information about when we would retrieve our belongings that were left behind during the evacuation, which they said would happen later that day or sometime in the following days,” Danburg added. 

Danburg said he was able to get his belongings back the next day, at around 12:15 p.m. 

“All I got out was my phone,” the anonymous student said. “I was barefoot in a tank top and had to get back to my dorm that way. I was without my belongings (wallet and keys and whatnot) until noon today [Monday], as the rec was closed until today.” 

The student was also left without their Husky One Card, relying on others to let them into their dorm and swipe them into dining halls. 

“I did not have the worst by far; people were stranded on campus with their car keys locked inside,” they said. “A few of my friends had their laptops locked inside their cars and are now behind on work and studying. The most egregious case was I have a friend that came down from Boston for the [competition] and didn’t even have her phone.” 

The student also expressed frustration with how the Rec Center had handled that crisis, citing a manager who had “smugly smiled” when the student said their belongings were inside the building. 

“But all of the climbing center employees handled [the crisis] really well and were very levelheaded,” the student added. 

The Daily Campus reached out to the UConn Recreation Center for comment, who directed the Daily Campus to Reitz.