EAST LANSING — Michigan State University officials reversed course Tuesday and said Wells Hall will be closed for all week as officials investigate the discovery of a chemical substance.
MSU closed Wells Hall on Monday, April 27 due to the discovery, and said late Monday afternoon the hall would reopen for exams on Tuesday, April 28.
But Tuesday morning, official said the hall will remain closed for the entire week.
The closure comes during the university’s final exams week. According to the Instagram story post, students will receive emails about plans for their exams if they were scheduled to be held in the building.
In a post on X, the university announced the building would be closed through the week after the university learned more information
“Wells Hall is closed for the remainder of this week through May 1,” the post said. “Additional info was received early this morning suggesting further evaluation of the building is needed. There continues to be no known threat to the campus community.”
No additional information has been made available about what type of chemical was found on campus or the reasoning behind the additional closure.
It’s not clear whether there is a criminal investigation underway, but a police presence remained around Wells Hall into early Monday afternoon, though the university spokesperson Amber McCann said the building was closed “out of an abundance of caution.”
The Lansing State Journal left messages with McCann and spokesperson Emily Guerrant regarding the closure. Neither have responded. Chris Rozman, deputy chief of the staff services division for MSU Police and Public Safety, also could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could MSU Police and Public Safety’s Communications Manager Nadia Vizueta.
Early Monday afternoon, the State Journal observed six police cars parked outside of Wells Hall while officers were seemingly congregating in a small hallway connecting two wings of the building. Shortly afterward, most cars left the scene, with just one remaining parked near the southwest entrance.
Rozman told the State Journal on Monday afternoon that he was unaware of what form the chemical was found in and stressed that “we do not believe that there is any threat to the community at this point and our goal is to ensure the safety of our community and that’s exactly why we’re doing what we’re doing today (Monday) – out of an overabundance of caution.”
Wells Hall, the largest academic building on campus, is located at619 Red Cedar Road, and sits east of Spartan Stadium. The building has four wings and houses the departments of mathematics, English and all of the languages.
The Hannah Administration Building is just north of Wells Hall, across the Red Cedar River.
Contact Karly Graham at kgraham@lsj.com. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU says no ‘known threat,’ but Wells Hall now closed all week
Reporting by Karly Graham, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
