By: Kevin Modeszto I Published: January 14, 2026
On January 12th at 3:14 p.m., an alert was sent to the campus community at Kean. In that alert was a warning to the community that there was a public safety incident — later revealed by multiple university employees to be a bomb threat — at the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons on the Union campus.
“The Kean University police department quickly responded and the building was evacuated out of an abundance of caution,” University Relations representative Nicole Franciso told The Tower.
“At approximately 4:45 p.m., after conducting a thorough search, KUPD, with support from Union County law enforcement, determined the building was safe,” she said.
The library returned to full working order the next day and the scare ended with zero injuries. No suspect has been reported at this time.
Kean police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Word spread quickly about the threat. Kean’s X and Facebook pages posted about it. The Facebook post received comments from concerned parents and alumni on the matter.
“I thought parents would’ve been notified about this but I didn’t get any emails,” parent Tina M. Mejias Coons commented. “Thank God they are safe. My info is all over their stuff and I knew nothing until my child got home.”
“Is there a way for parents to be notified of these events other than checking Facebook multiple times throughout the day?” Fellow parent Amy-Keiper-Shaw commented.
There were no posts on Kean’s Instagram or TikTok pages.
Bomb threats are rare, but are not unprecedented at Kean University. In 2015, according to Tap Into West Field, the Twitter account “@keanuagainstblk” tweeted “Kean University there’s a bomb on your campus”. More recently, in September 2023, a student was non-fatally stabbed on campus.
Starting in 2022, college bomb threats have skyrocketed. The primary targets have been Historically Black Colleges and universities (HBCUs), but all universities have seen this surge. Kean University is not an HBCU, but it is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and participated in 2024’s HBCU New York Classic.
“It was an unexpected and unintended kind of trauma,” an anonymous library support staff member said while discussing the bomb threat. She later went on to state that she believes the police did the best job they possibly could have.
While the building was evacuated safely, there is not a requirement to evacuate buildings with bomb threats as is said on Page 6 of Kean University’s Quick Reference Guide, which can be accessed through Kean’s website.
The guide states that a decision will be made based on information rather than a general policy. They state that “a well-meaning evacuation could have the effect of moving building occupants from areas of relative safety through the high-risk blast zone. A lockdown procedure may be utilized as an alternative to keep students, staff and visitors safe.”
In the case of a future bomb threat or any other threat to safety, always comply with whatever campus and Union police order.
The following are phone numbers which can be used to report suspicious activity on campus:
Emergencies: Dial 9-1-1
Department of Public Safety/Police: 908-737-4800 (on-campus extension: 7-4800)
Office of Facilities: 908-737-5000
Fire Safety: 908-737-3060
The article was edited on January 15th at 11 a.m. to reflect better accuracy.
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