Yale University officials have contacted New Haven Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and increased security after graffiti threatening arson at a Jewish center on the university campus was discovered in a school bathroom late last month.
On April 22, graffiti found on a bathroom wall at the Sterling Chemistry Lab on Prospect Street said someone will set fire to the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life on May 16.
May 16 is the second night of the Jewish holiday Shavout, which celebrated the day God gave the Torah to Israel.
"Everything has to be taken seriously because you never know," Tom Conroy, university spokesman, said.
In addition to calling the New Haven Police and the FBI to increase security in the area around the center, school officials have also contacted the Connecticut regional office of the Anti-Defamation League for consultation on dealing with the situation.
University officials said they will go ahead with the already planned events for the night of May 16.
"We're going to be here. There are going to be a lot of people here," David Rose, of the board of trustees for the Slivka Center, said. "Hopefully this is just a joke."
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