Hallways Are Empty at Stockton

Josh Ford had a party to promote. It’s coming up on Friday, and he was hoping to use Wednesday to tell the other students at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey about it.

There was just one problem:

“It’s hard to sell tickets when no one is here,” Ford said.

The usually bustling hallways at the college were all but silent Wednesday morning into the mid-afternoon. Ford said a few of his classes had been canceled, and the consensus among students was that attendance for classes was much less than usual.

“My first class usually has 30 people in it, and today there were 10,” junior Jessica Henning said. “My other class usually has 35, and today there were maybe about 15.”

“There are five to 10 kids in each of my classes. That’s a definite decrease,” senior Lauren Katzman said.

“I haven’t been to class yet, but I know a lot of people that said they are not coming to class,” junior Darrell Dabney-Carter said.

A threat discovered on a bathroom wall just before spring break and made public by the school on Monday would seem to be what’s keeping many students away from school on this cold, downcast day in the middle of the week.

A trip around campus showed the college was taking the threat seriously, as a heightened number of police officers and cars patrolled the campus.

Throughout the morning, cars representing the college’s police squad, as well as Galloway Township and patrols from the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s and Sheriff’s offices were on patrol.

When the threat was publicized on Monday, the only details that were released set Wednesday as the target date. No more specifics were given at that time, and no further information was released by the college on Wednesday.

“It’s good to know that Stockton took the threat seriously,” said Brian Wilson, a senior at the school.

“For (the police) to show up, that makes me feel better,” Henning said.

Ford said he had classes canceled. Other students said their classes weren’t canceled, but some admitted they had reservations about coming to school.

“I have a paper due today, otherwise I wouldn’t be here, either,” Ford said.

“I’m a little scared. I had a fight with my mom about whether I should go to class today,” Henning said. “But I woke up this morning and thought, ‘I have four classes today. I can’t miss them all.’”

“My partner told me not to come to class today, but I can’t afford to miss any more time,” Dabney-Carter said.

Others, for one reason or another, weren’t as concerned.

“To be honest, I forgot about it,” freshman Kaitlin Reeves said. “I had a couple of threats when I was in high school, so it wasn’t a big deal. I’m surprised this happened at a college, but it didn’t affect me.”

“I had an exam today,” Wilson said. “My professor gave us the option of taking it on Friday, but I have no other classes on Friday. I have one class today, and then I have to work until 10 (on campus).”

“I have work to do,” Katzman said. “Knowing that the school made it public, and knowing that there’s going to be extra security, I don’t think they’re going to do anything today.”

Still, the threat may not be the reason students are missing classes—at least, not the fear related to a threat.

“I think a lot of students are taking advantage of the fact that they don’t have to go to class,” Wilson said. “I think that’s probably the vast majority, actually.”