Update: Berkey Hall to reopen Friday, as police say there is ‘no threat to campus’

Michigan Advance · Kyle Davidson · September 3, 2026

Berkey Hall at Michigan State University . (Photo by Susan J. Demas/Michigan Advance) Out of an abundance of caution, Michigan State University made the decision to temporarily close Berkey Hall Thursday to allow law enforcement to assess a potential threat.

As of Thursday afternoon, the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety has determined there is no threat to the building or the university’s campus. It will reopen at 7 a.m. on Friday.

Berkey Hall – alongside the MSU Union – was the site of a 2023 mass shooting in which five students were injured and three students were killed.

On Wednesday afternoon, university policy received information from a medical professional under their “Duty to Warn” obligations of a threat an individual had made that included information about a program housed in Berkey Hall. The building is home to the university’s College of Social Science, the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and the Department of Sociology.

Because the report was second hand, police needed time to further investigate, and made the decision to close the building and move classes online.

The Department of Police and Public Safety worked alongside the Eastern Michigan University Police Department, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police to determine the credibility of the information they received. Law enforcement made contact with the individual in question in Washtenaw County and took them into protective custody.

“ While we are limited in the information we can share about the individual, we can confirm they are not an employee or a student with Michigan State University,” the department said in a statement.

2:31 pm This story was updated with additional information from the Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety.

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