Wittenberg University cancels football game as threats, closures spread across Springfield, Ohio

Wittenberg University announced Tuesday it has canceled all planned athletics events through Sunday, Sept. 22, including a scheduled road football game at Hiram College on Saturday.

Wittenberg, a Division III school, is located in Springfield, Ohio, which has become the center of the political universe over the past week.

The city, located between in central Ohio between Dayton and Columbus, has seen an estimated 12-20,000 Haitian immigrants add to its 60,000 residents since the pandemic, which local officials say has put a strain on city services, as detailed by the New York Times. Springfield's city manager appeared on "Fox & Friends" in July to call for federal assistance in managing the influx of new residents, but the conversation hit overdrive when former President Donald Trump repeated claims that Haitian immigrants were eating residents' pets during last week's presidential debate. 

On Monday, Ohio governor Mike DeWine has called in the Ohio State Highway Patrol to monitor the city's public schools after the school district moved two elementary schools to alternate locations after receiving a handful of threats over the past week.

Gov. DeWine said thus far all threats have originated from a foreign country and no actual bombs have been found, but still. From CNN:

DeWine said 36 troopers from the state patrol’s mobile field force will be present at all 17 school buildings in the Springfield City School District starting Tuesday. The troopers will sweep all school buildings before classes start and will remain on campus to provide security throughout the day and after dismissal, he said.

“We have people, unfortunately, overseas who are taking these actions,” DeWine said of those making the threats. “Some of them are coming from one particular country. We think this is one more opportunity to mess with the United States, and they’re continuing to do that. So we cannot let the bad guys win.”

Wittenberg said it has received five (resolved) threats since Saturday, and on Monday the university announced all classes this week will be held remotely.

"After receiving new threats on Monday, Sept. 16, and in the context of ongoing threats of violence on our campus and in the Springfield community, Wittenberg will go fully remote for the rest of the week (Monday, Sept. 16-Sunday, Sept. 22)," the school said. "The University is taking each threat seriously, and Wittenberg Police are working closely with other law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate any and all threats made toward our campus, employees, and students."

Closing campus to classes also requires canceling all athletic events, which the school did Tuesday.

Jim Collins's team opened its season with a 24-14 loss to Baldwin Wallace on Sept. 7. The Tigers were off Sept. 14, and will now take another unscheduled idle week before hopefully resuming their season Sept. 28 against Howard Payne. 

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.