The Engineering and Science building was placed on heightened security last week, apparently due to an alleged threat made by a former student. A police officer was stationed in the building’s lobby area all of last week.

According to UPJ senior math major Christopher Greenhow, the officer was from campus police.

The officer was sometimes seen checking on classrooms inside the building, but most of the time he held his post in the lobby.

Questions also arose as engineering students wondered why there hadn’t been any information from the university regarding the threat, as most students became informed about it through rumors.

“Just sharing an email with students, or at least telling people would have been more beneficial than saying nothing at all,” said senior engineering student James Vizzini.

“When one has to ask why there are police in the E&S, a building which I spend my entire day, only to find out the students are under threat.

“It makes you wonder why we signed up for the emergency notification (alert) when you enroll at UPJ to begin with.”

Greenhow concurs.

“If it is this serious of a issue, the university should be notifying students about it.”

The campus police chief Eric Zangaglia declined to comment on the matter Friday, indicating an appointment was necessary in order to obtain information.

According to reports, the threats were made to university officials about harming engineering technology faculty members.