The campus of Shorter University was evacuated Thursday morning after a bomb threat at the school in Rome. The threat turned out to be unfounded.
A university spokeswoman said students and faculty were evacuated to the baseball field as police searched the school's buildings. Everyone was allowed back on campus late Thursday morning.
Authorities said classes were called off for the rest of the day. Thursday evening classes were also canceled.
The warning siren at Shorter University, generally used for bad weather, sounded briefly at 9:30 am, according to a report in the Rome News-Tribune.
The Shorter Business School across Shorter Avenue may also have been evacuated, the newspaper reported.
A small group of protesters -- about 10 or 12 -- had gathered at Shorter around 8 a.m. Thursday to protest the school's decision to require employees to sign a statement of faith, according to the newspaper.
In October the university announced it was requiring its more than 200 employees to sign a “Personal Lifestyle Statement” rejecting homosexuality. New employees will have to sign the statement and existing employees will have to sign it to renew their contracts.
“Failure to adhere to this statement may result in disciplinary action ... up to and including immediate termination,” the statement said.
By signing the statement, employees agree to reject as acceptable “all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but no limited to premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality."
Students are not required to sign the policy.
-- AJC reporter Christopher Seward and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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