Campus Alert Archive
Rhodes

Saturday Evening Before Thanksgiving Break: A Bomb Threat Empties an Almost-Empty Rhodes College Campus

TNbomb threatemergency notificationmedium confidence

On Saturday evening, November 22, 2025, Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee received a bomb threat that triggered an immediate campus lockdown and building evacuations. Memphis police arrived around 6:20 PM CST and conducted a thorough sweep with Campus Safety. No explosive devices were found. Because the campus was nearly empty ahead of Thanksgiving break, only a small number of people were affected. The threat remained under active police investigation.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Rhodes College
Private Liberal Arts · TN
Rhodes Alerts
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 ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction217 chars
Rhodes Alert: A bomb threat has been received. The campus is on lockdown. All individuals must evacuate buildings immediately. Police are responding. Go to the designated assembly areas and await further instructions.

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

Received by a campus dispatcher on Saturday evening November 22, 2025 -- the Thanksgiving pre-break timing meant very few students were on campus, significantly limiting the number of people affected
Rhodes Alerts sent by text utilize Blackboard Connect, the campus mass communication system capable of emailing, texting, and calling all students, faculty, and staff simultaneously
The alert triggered building evacuations rather than shelter-in-place -- standard bomb threat protocol where dispersing people away from buildings reduces casualty risk if a device is present
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction233 chars
Rhodes Alert: All clear. Memphis Police and Campus Safety have completed a sweep of campus. No explosive devices were found. The lockdown has been lifted. The investigation is ongoing. If you have information, contact Memphis Police.

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

All-clear issued after Memphis Police and Campus Safety completed a systematic sweep of campus buildings -- Fox13 Memphis reported police arrived around 6:20 PM CST and cleared the campus
The 'investigation is ongoing' language is standard for bomb threat all-clears where the caller has not been identified -- the physical threat is resolved but the legal investigation continues
The near-empty pre-Thanksgiving campus reduced the operational complexity of the sweep and likely shortened the time to all-clear
Context

Background

Rhodes College, a private liberal arts institution with approximately 2,000 students located in the Midtown neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee, received a bomb threat on the evening of Saturday, November 22, 2025, shortly before Thanksgiving break. A campus dispatcher received the threat from an unknown person. The college immediately placed the campus on lockdown and evacuated buildings. Memphis police arrived at approximately 6:20 PM CST and conducted a systematic sweep of campus. No explosive devices were found. Because the campus was nearly deserted ahead of the holiday break, the incident affected only a small number of people who were on campus. Rhodes Alerts uses Blackboard Connect to simultaneously text, email, and call students, faculty, and staff during emergencies. The threat remained under police investigation; no suspect was announced in the immediate reporting. The timing -- pre-Thanksgiving weekend, with minimal campus population -- is a known vulnerability window for bomb threats at small residential colleges.
Analysis

Key Findings

Pre-holiday timing with near-empty campus conditions significantly reduced the operational complexity of the bomb threat response and the number of community members directly affected
Rhodes Alerts via Blackboard Connect illustrates the standard small-college mass notification approach: a single platform covering SMS, email, and voice simultaneously
This is the second Rhodes College case in the archive, alongside the 2021 Drew Rainer home invasion murder -- illustrating distinct threat types affecting a small liberal arts college in an urban environment
Outcome
No explosive devices found. Campus cleared and reopened. Investigation ongoing as of the initial reporting.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Rhodes College receives bomb threat, no explosive devices found (Fox13 Memphis)
    fox13memphis.com
  2. News
    Bomb threat reported at Rhodes College, no explosive devices found (WREG Memphis)
    wreg.com
  3. Official
    Critical Campus Safety Communications (Rhodes College)
    rhodes.edu
Tags
bomb-threatevacuationno-device-foundthanksgivingmemphistennesseeprivate-liberal-artsblackboard-connectpre-holiday
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion