New freshmen and transfer students got a shock Tuesday afternoon when UNA officials were forced to evacuate campus because of a bomb threat.

UNA Police closed campus after multiple phone calls came through to the university and local 911 dispatchers around 1:30 p.m. Students living in the residence halls were forced to immediately leave campus.

Florence Police, Fire and Rescue and the state fire marshal helped during the process of searching and evacuating the university, said Chief Bob Pastula.

“There is no way to prepare for this, but we tell students if they see anything suspicious, don’t touch it and report it to us,” he said. “When there is a bomb threat, it’s good for students to check areas to see if anything is out of the ordinary.”

Matisse O’Neal, an incoming freshman who moved to UNA last weekend, was startled when a SOAR counselor knocked on her door and told her to evacuate.

“I felt a little afraid and alarmed, and felt very unsafe,” she said. “I knew to take the stairs instead of the elevator, especially after the fire drill the other day.”

Freshman Ben Procious was asleep in his dorm room at Lafayette Hall when he was told to evacuate campus. He said anger was the only word to describe how he felt about the situation.

“I hadn’t had a shower yet and had just woken up,” he said. “I’m kind of ambivalent about it. It doesn’t make anything worse, but it’s something to talk about.”

Officials searched all buildings at UNA before reopening campus later that afternoon. Pastula said the caller had not been discovered at the time of The Flor-Ala’s weekly deadline, but they had leads on the caller’s identity and location.

Kevin Jacques, director of residence life, said the process of evacuating campus went smoothly.

“The students were orderly, and the staff was able to answer students’ questions as they had them,” he said.