Campus Alert Archive
CalArts

A Meme About Cartoon Style Closed California's Premier Animation and Arts Conservatory for a Day

CAthreat of violenceemergency notificationmedium confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

On June 4, 2018, California Institute of the Arts closed its Santa Clarita campus at 11:30 a.m. PDT after a Twitter account posted a shooting target bearing a 'CalArts-style' cartoon face with the caption 'Some of you guys are alright, don't go to CalArts tomorrow.' Students and staff received email and text alerts that campus was closed and that the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station was investigating. CalArts issued an all-clear at 6:30 p.m. PDT, finding no credible danger. The incident drew national attention because students believed the threat was tied to an ongoing internet campaign against the so-called 'CalArts style' aesthetic used in shows like Adventure Time.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
California Institute of the Arts
Private Bachelors · CA
~1,500 studentsCalArts Campus Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstructionThe Signal SCV (paraphrased initial alert content)159 chars
CalArts campus is closed for the remainder of the day. A potential threat to the campus is being investigated by law enforcement. Please do not come to campus.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The campus closure was announced at 11:30 a.m. PDT on June 4, 2018, a Monday during CalArts' off-peak period between spring term and summer programs
Because CalArts had no formal summer session at the time, only a small number of students and staff were on campus, limiting the reach of the alert
Alert text is reconstructed from Signal SCV and other coverage; the exact wording sent via the CalArts Campus Alert system is not preserved in publicly available sources
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstructionThe Daily Dot (paraphrased CalArts all-clear statement issued at 6:30 p.m. PDT)122 chars
The CalArts campus has been cleared. There is no credible danger to campus. Normal activities may resume tomorrow, June 5.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The all-clear was posted at 6:30 p.m. PDT on June 4, 2018, about seven hours after the campus closure began
CalArts explicitly stated 'no credible danger,' the standard institutional language distinguishing an unfounded threat from a confirmed one
Text is reconstructed from The Daily Dot's reporting on the campus update; verbatim wording of the CalArts Campus Alert all-clear is not available
Context

Background

California Institute of the Arts is a private conservatory in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, founded in 1961 by Walt Disney and enrolling roughly 1,500 students across visual arts, performing arts, animation, film, and music programs. On June 3, 2018, a now-deleted Twitter account posted an image of a shooting target with a cartoon face drawn in the so-called 'CalArts style' and the caption 'Some of you guys are alright, don't go to CalArts tomorrow' -- a phrase derived from a meme tracing back to a 4chan post reportedly attributed to the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooter, frequently repurposed online as trolling humor. On June 4, CalArts closed its campus at 11:30 a.m. PDT and notified students and staff that the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station was investigating a potential threat. Because the school was between academic terms, foot traffic was light. At 6:30 p.m. PDT CalArts announced no credible danger had been found and the campus would reopen the following morning. The threat gained unusual media attention because students widely believed it was connected to an organized online backlash against the visual aesthetic associated with CalArts alumni such as the art style in Cartoon Network shows. The case adds a specialized animation and fine-arts conservatory to the archive and shows how internet subcultural conflicts can generate credible-seeming campus threats.
Outcome
The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station investigated the tweet and found no credible threat. The campus reopened for normal activity the following day, June 5, 2018. No arrests were publicly reported.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    CalArts campus investigated as precaution after tweet - The Signal SCV
    signalscv.com
  2. News
    CalArts Shuts Down After Shooting Threat Possibly Related to Cartoons - The Daily Dot
    dailydot.com
  3. News
    CalArts Shut Down After Social Media Threat, Few Students On Campus - KHTS Santa Clarita
    hometownstation.com
  4. Source
    Shooting threat at CalArts may have been over cartoon controversy - ResetEra
    resetera.com
Tags
arts-conservatoryanimation-schoolarts-schoolsocial-media-threatthreat-of-violencecaliforniasanta-claritacampus-closurememe-related-threatspecialty-institutionUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion