Morris Plains man arrested for phone threat to college

A Morris Plains man was arrested Monday on charges of calling in telephone threats last month to Evergreen State College, prompting a two-day closure of the campus in Olympia, Wash., according to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

The threats allegedly made by Robert W. Kerekes Jr., 53, followed a series of protests that drew national attention to student allegations of racism on the Evergreen campus, according to an Associated Press report.

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher and Morris Plains Police Chief Jason Kohn announced the arrest on Tuesday. Kerekes faces charges of terroristic threats, criminal coersion and false public alarm.

Kerekes was remanded to the Morris County Correctional Facility per the New Jersey Bail Reform Act.

The alleged threats were considered credible enough by local law-enforcement and school officials to prompt them to shut down the campus on the morning of June 1. The incident resulted in the response of numerous state and local law enforcement agencies.

Evergreen officials said someone called the Thurston County Communications Center claiming to be armed and on the way to campus. The call was made from an unknown telephone number to the communications center's regular business phone line and not their 911 lines, they said.

Police searched and found no one posing a threat, but the campus remained closed into the weekend. Evergreen announced on its website that it reopened its campus as of 3 p.m. on June 5.

The threats followed protests on campus over a white professor opposing an April event in which organizers asked white students to leave campus to talk about race issues, representing a reversal from the the school's longstanding annual "Day of Absence," in which minorities traditionally attend programs off campus.

Biology professor Bret Weinstein, a 15-year member of the Evergreen faculty, wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal saying he was called a racist because he had "challenged coercive segregation by race."

Weinstein said a group encouraging another group to go away was "an act of oppression in and of itself," The News Tribune reported. Evergreen State said participation has always been optional.

Some students called for Weinstein to resign. Conservative media pointed to the furor as an example of intolerance on college campuses, where protests have derailed multiple appearances by contentious figures.

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office said its investigation is still active. 

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com