‘This is not a test’
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
Katelyn Smith was sitting in the basement of the Schafer hall auditoriam in the middle of her Stage makeup class, when her professor stood up and calmly asked the students to proceed to the bathroom, where they sat in wait with lights off and doors closed until they were finally told that the school was under a lockdown.
The Washburn native said that she initially thought it may be a drill before a voice came over the intercom.
"I remember clearly as the words, ‘this is not a test’ came across," Smith said.
A threat posted on Twitter was tracked to the Bismarck State College library, and just three days into the Spring semester, the school grinded to a halt as doors were sealed and police officials flooded the building.
Smith said that in what could have been a traumatic situation, everyone around her remained calm. Her instructor Dean Bellin comforted the students, telling them that they were in the safest place in the building since many people don’t know where it is. And for the nearly 5 hours that they were hidden away in the basement of the Sydney J. Lee Auditorium, the students passed the time by getting to know each other a little more.
