Police Investigating, ‘No Ongoing Threat’ After Penn State Campus Building Evacuated, University Says

The Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building at Penn State. File photo by Dillon Williams | Onward State

A building at Penn State’s University Park campus building was evacuated on Wednesday afternoon, but university officials say there is “no ongoing threat” and no injuries

Police, fire officials and engineers are investigating what the university has so far only described as an “incident” at the Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building. The public is advised to avoid the area of the building, which is located at 137 Fischer Road, near the intersection with Allen Road.

Alpha Fire Company was called to the scene at 1:35 p.m. for inside investigation of “a sound of an explosion,” according to a Centre County 911 dispatch.

A faculty member who was on the fifth floor of the building told the Centre County Report that she heard “a huge boom.”

More from the scene: Penn State’s Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building evacuated after reports of a loud boom and crack in an interior wall. Awaiting official updates. pic.twitter.com/x4g2534ujl

— Centre County Report (@CentreCountyRep) November 12, 2025

Fischer Road between the Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building and Allen Road is closed, according to Penn State Transportation Services. All vehicles must enter and exit the Nittany Deck via the west end of Fischer Road from Park Ave.

The six-story, 143,000-square foot Welch Building opened in January. It is home to the departments of anthropology, political science and sociology and criminology, the School of Public Policy, Criminal Justice Research Center, Matson Museum of Anthropology, McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Social Science Research Institute.