Skip to content
Campus Alert Archive
Lehigh

Threat of violence, September 11, 2025

AI-generated · every claim is source-linked
PAthreat of violencetimely warninghigh confidence

On September 11, 2025, members of the Lehigh University community received a disturbing email containing a racially targeted threat. LUPD Chief Jason Schiffer received a phone call about the email at 11:03 AM EDT, and the HawkWatch alert went out at 12:37 PM EDT. The FBI joined LUPD's investigation and determined the threat was a hoax, part of a coordinated wave of threats that hit multiple HBCUs and other institutions the same day.

Alerts
2
Response
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Lehigh University
Private R1 · PA
All Lehigh cases →
~7,800 studentsHawkWatch
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some messages in this sequence are documented (their existence, timing, and channel are sourced) but their exact wording is not preserved in the public record. Those entries appear as placeholders; only confirmed text is displayed.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Earlier today, members of the Lehigh University community received a disturbing email including a racially targeted threat to campus. LUPD, in coordination with the FBI, has determined the threat is not credible and that there is no ongoing risk to our community. Multiple campuses across the country were subject to similar coordinated threats today, which have been determined to be hoaxes. Out of an abundance of caution, LUPD will be increasing its presence across campus. We recognize that this message may leave some feeling unsettled. Lehigh Counseling & Psychological Services is available to students for in-person support, and Telus Health offers 24/7 online counseling with multilingual options so students can speak with someone in their native language if desired. Faculty and staff can also seek confidential support through the Lehigh Employee Assistance Plan (EAP). Resources are available for the campus community (https://www2.lehigh.edu/news/support-resources). As always, we encourage the campus community to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Report any suspicious persons or behavior to LUPD at (610) 758-4200. Jason Schiffer Associate Vice President of Campus Safety & Chief of Police Lehigh University Police Department
Recovered verbatim from official Lehigh AppArmor CAP notification page (HawkWatch Alert Log); email-format community notice from Chief Jason Schiffer
Message covers both the receipt of the racially targeted threat email and the FBI/LUPD determination that it was a coordinated multi-campus hoax
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Wording not preserved
A follow-up message is documented at this point in the sequence, but its exact wording is not preserved in the public record. The public edition displays only confirmed alert text.
Message elements

How the first alert is built

To check this alert, Claude (an AI) read it in full 25 separate times, independently. Each read decided whether the message answers each of the six questions and gave a short reason. A final reviewer then weighed all 25 and wrote the plain-English verdict you see when you open a row. The score (for example 22/25) is how many reads agreed; the 25 individual reads are tucked underneath if you want to check them.

Earlier today, members of the Lehigh University community received a disturbing email including a racially targeted threat to campus. LUPD, in coordination with the FBI, has determined the threat is not credible and that there is no ongoing risk to our community. Multiple campuses across the country were subject to similar coordinated threats today, which have been determined to be hoaxes. Out of an abundance of caution, LUPD will be increasing its presence across campus. We recognize that this message may leave some feeling unsettled. Lehigh Counseling & Psychological Services is available to students for in-person support, and Telus Health offers 24/7 online counseling with multilingual options so students can speak with someone in their native language if desired. Faculty and staff can also seek confidential support through the Lehigh Employee Assistance Plan (EAP). Resources are available for the campus community (https://www2.lehigh.edu/news/support-resources). As always, we encourage the campus community to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Report any suspicious persons or behavior to LUPD at (610) 758-4200. Jason Schiffer Associate Vice President of Campus Safety & Chief of Police Lehigh University Police Department

  • Sourceabsent0/0

    Who is sending the alert and who is responding. People act faster on a message from a clearly identifiable, credible sender, such as a named department, the police, or a branded alert system, than on an anonymous notice. A branded signature counts.

    See all 25 individual reads

    Open to load the 25 reads.

  • Hazardabsent0/0

    What the threat actually is. A complete warning names the specific danger, such as a shooter, a fire, a tornado, or a gas leak, rather than a vague emergency, because people decide what to do based on what they are facing.

    See all 25 individual reads

    Open to load the 25 reads.

  • Locationabsent0/0

    Where the threat is. Saying whether danger is in a specific building, a part of campus, or area-wide lets people judge their own proximity and choose a safe direction. Without a where, a warning is hard to act on precisely.

    See all 25 individual reads

    Open to load the 25 reads.

  • Guidanceabsent0/0

    The protective action to take. A clear, specific instruction, such as shelter in place, evacuate, avoid the area, or run-hide-fight, drives faster and more correct protective behavior than describing the threat alone.

    See all 25 individual reads

    Open to load the 25 reads.

  • Timeabsent0/0

    When the message applies. A timestamp, the word now or immediately, or a phrase like until further notice tells the reader whether the danger is current and how quickly to act.

    See all 25 individual reads

    Open to load the 25 reads.

  • Impactabsent0/0

    What the hazard could do to the people in its path. Beyond naming the threat, a complete warning conveys its potential consequences or severity, such as that a tornado can level buildings or that a leak could be explosive, so recipients grasp how much danger they are in. Research on warning message content finds that a concrete impact statement helps people personalize their risk and act sooner.

    See all 25 individual reads

    Open to load the 25 reads.

Systematic AI judgments with visible reasoning, not human-validated codings.

About this analysis
Context

Background

On September 11, 2025, Lehigh University community members received an emailed threat that explicitly targeted racial-minority students. Lehigh Police Chief Jason Schiffer received a phone call about the email at 11:03 AM EDT. After confirming the email was real and assessing credibility, Lehigh's senior administration directed LUPD to issue a HawkWatch alert at 12:37 PM EDT. The FBI joined LUPD's investigation, and within hours the email was determined to be a hoax. The day was a difficult one nationally: multiple historically Black colleges and universities locked down on September 11, 2025 in what was characterized by the Security Management trade press as a coordinated terroristic-threat campaign. Lehigh's inclusion in the wave (as a predominantly white institution but one with a meaningful Black and minority student population) was significant; the FBI's nationwide investigation linked the day's threats but had not, as of early 2026, publicly identified suspects. The incident was Lehigh's third major HawkWatch alert of 2025, following the January 30 active-shooter swatting and the April 17 BB-gun projectile incident.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 94-minute gap between the 11:03 AM chief's phone call and the 12:37 PM HawkWatch alert reflects deliberate verification — Lehigh chose accuracy over speed because the threat was an email, not a 911 call, and could be cross-referenced
Lehigh's explicit acknowledgment of 'racially targeted' language in the alert text (rather than euphemistic 'concerning content' phrasing) was a transparency choice many peer institutions did not make on the same day
September 11, 2025 marked one of the most coordinated single-day campus-threat campaigns in US history, and Lehigh was among the few predominantly white private institutions targeted alongside HBCUs
Three major HawkWatch alerts in 2025 (January swatting, April projectiles, September racial threat) represent an unusual concentration for a single Patriot League / R1 private institution
Outcome
No threat was found; the email was confirmed as a hoax by LUPD working with the FBI. The incident occurred on the same day as a wave of similar threats against historically Black colleges and universities — [multiple HBCUs locked down](https://www.axios.com/2025/09/11/hbcu-lockdown-campus-terrorist-threats) on September 11, 2025 in what was characterized as a coordinated terroristic-threat campaign.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
  2. national media
  3. industry publication
  4. industry publication
  5. Official
  6. Official
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Lehigh University: Threat of violence, September 11, 2025." Incident of September 11, 2025. Added May 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/lehigh-university-racially-targeted-email-hoax-2025-09-11/

Download case JSON

Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Tags
racially-targeted-threatemail-threathoaxhbcu-solidarity-wavepatriot-leagueprivate-r1pennsylvaniabethlehemhawkwatchfbi-investigation
Added May 2026Updated July 2026Via ingestion