A racially charged bathroom message caused many black students on campus to fear going to their finals this week.

The concerns caused the NAACP and the Black Student Union to ask for a meeting with NIU President John Peters at 11 a.m. Monday at the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 1201 Twombly Road. The university shut down Monday and students’ fears moved the meeting off campus.

Several TV stations from Chicago and Rockford traveled to the church to hear the exchange between Peters and students.

Peters spoke to the crowd of about 200 people, mostly made up of NIU students.

After giving a statement, Peters took questions from several students. Media was not allowed into the chapel to hear the exchanges between Peters and the students.

As Peters left the church, he was swarmed by TV media asking about the details of the exchange. One question touched on the subject of the timeliness of the university’s response.

“Our crisis management team came together early about 30-some hours ago,” Peters said. “… we gathered all the information and we made a quick decision to put out an alert and then later in the day, we decided to close the university for safety purposes,”

He elaborated further: “I believe this was very timely … we have an emergency operation plan, we practice it … people were gathered in my office very early yesterday morning and the various individuals had all the information. We’ve all learned how to do this.”

Peters also said the university was consulting with various law enforcement agencies.

“We’re consulting with and using the resources of a wide range of law enforcement agencies, including the federal government,” he said.

Students in general relayed their worries about the race relations overall at NIU.

Black Student Union President Samuel Davis, Alpha Phi Alpha President Charles Gardner and NAACP representative Mitchell Gaddis addressed reporters questions for about a half-hour.

Davis asked that classes be cancelled or postponed to address the threat.

Gardner suggested that testing be held in a concentrated area like Cole or Barsema halls to reassure students.

Davis mentioned that many students left campus because of the threat but could not speak to whether those students planned on returning for finals this week.

University Judicial Office Director Larry Bolles, Vice President of Student Affairs Brian Hemphill and Vice President of Finance and Facilities Eddie Williams were on hand as well as Peters.