Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois has opened an investigation after death threats were made toward Turning Point USA chapter leaders on campus.
TPUSA chapter president Jacob York was forced to leave campus because of safety concerns, and the university granted him academic accommodations that allow him to complete the remainder of his semester online.
“The first death threat that I received was anonymous through Instagram,” York told Fox News. “It said that someone was going to come in the middle of the night and slit my throat.”
York said he was not the only student who left campus. Mara Hudson, the chapter’s vice president, who runs the group’s Instagram account that received a threat, was also sent home as a safety precaution.
According to Fox News, Olivet Nazarene President Gregg Chenoweth responded to a concerned parent in an email, explaining that students received an “anonymous threat of physical harm via social media, to a specific person, not a group or to all students.”
“I’m a parent, not just a president, so I’m sincerely invested on the seriousness of this, and understand the fear it can create. I hope this quick note is sufficient, as we are getting lots of requests for information. I’ve been working on this myself for 7 hours so far today,” Chenoweth told the parent. He also said law enforcement was working to identify the person who sent the threats.
The university released a statement last week saying that the Department of Public Safety and the Bourbonnais Police Department are investigating “concerning threats directed toward specific members of our campus community.”
“At no time is this sort of behavior acceptable in our society and certainly not at Olivet, and it will be handled accordingly,” the statement said. “The University will continue to work proactively with Bourbonnais Police Department throughout their investigation to ensure Olivet’s campus remains a safe environment where our community can thrive. Additionally, the Department of Public Safety will continue to follow up on any leads that may possibly be related to this incident.”
The TPUSA chapter at the university is not officially recognized by the school. A spokesperson for the university told Fox News that the TPUSA chapter has not completed the process to become an official campus organization, though school officials have been in conversations with the group.
