On January 22, halfway through seventh period, Principal Newman made an urgent announcement over the loudspeaker that the building was in a “hold.” Teachers were to lock their classrooms and continue teaching while holding students in their classrooms until the all-clear was given.

The administration left teachers and students in the dark about what had prompted the hold. With little information, many felt anxious. 

“They ushered us into the locker room, and for a moment, I felt a little scared,” recalled Chemistry major Jeremy Oppenzato (’26).“My first thought was – why? Is someone dangerous in the school?” 

Unlike a lockdown, during which students huddle out of sight in classrooms, remaining silent with the lights off, doors locked, and windows covered, a hold is far less stringent. According to DOE policy, a hold occurs “when there is a condition inside the school building, and the immediate need to address the condition requires staff, students, and visitors to remain in place and conduct business as usual until the ‘All Clear’ is announced.” Students are cleared from the hallways while school safety officers conduct sweeps, and classes continue as usual, as teachers carry on with lessons and students are free to talk.

As the January 22 hold continued past seventh period, initial concerns were joined by a mix of confusion and boredom. With nothing to do but wait, students quickly turned to their phones for entertainment and, more importantly, information. 

“Most of the kids around me began to play games or scroll TikTok as soon as the hold began,” Oppenzato explained. “I and many others also started texting friends to see what was going on.”

Despite being confined to their classrooms, students were not isolated from the flow of information – or misinformation. As the hold stretched into ninth period, rumors ran rampant via text messages, Snapchat, Instagram, and other social media platforms.

“I heard that there was an outburst thrown by a student” recounted Law and Society major Alexi de la Nuez (‘26). “But I also heard that there was a 6’8, 200 pound student armed with a knife.”

None of the rumors were substantiated, as the administration did not release an official statement detailing what had occurred, so all students could rely on were the misinformed reports of fellow students on their feeds.

Even among teachers, information spread quickly.

“Due to teacher-teacher communication via group chats, it became pretty apparent fairly quickly what the exact cause of the hold was,” APUSH Teacher Mr. Philip Linder commented. “The communications that I had with teachers clued me in pretty quickly about the actual cause, which was ultimately accurate.”

However, most teachers were unclear on the details, and much of what they did learn they could not share. 

“From my perspective, school staff probably learned pretty accurate information fairly quickly into the event, but due to the sensitivity of the moment, a lot of detailed specific information would not be divulged to people who frankly didn’t need to know [including students and staff],” Mr. Linder elaborated.

Health and Safety staff were closer to the events on the ground.

“As deans we knew completely what was going on,” shared Dean Richard Stein, adding that, despite what the student rumors on social media implied, the situation that caused the hold “was completely safe.”

At around 2:30pm, the hold was lifted. The announcement came just as unexpectedly as the order to start the hold, with little explanation. Students were allowed to move freely once again, but questions remained about what happened and why there had been so much secrecy from the school that fed panic and confusion. 

The rumors did not end with the lifting of the hold. Information continued to spread across social media, with students promoting a variety of explanations. One student, who wished to remain anonymous, even created a timeline of the event based on the various theories circulating among students during the hold.

With the constant flow of information streaming in real time, students sought to verify unconfirmed accounts with deans like Mr. Stein.

“People came up to me and other deans and other people spewing the same nonsense, misinformation over and over again. I was like, that isn’t true,” Stein remarked. 

Amid all the theorizing, an ugliness emerged. Racist and derogatory comments about the potential cause of the hold began to circulate, with some students making insensitive remarks about the skin tone and background of those involved. 

Tech’s Latino Student Union, UNIDOS, held a speakout against racism that students experience at Tech, with a central focus on hateful comments some students made on social media in relation to the hold.

Leighanne Harris (‘27) attended the speakout and described the discrimination she witnessed and felt.

“Even from Instagram posts to screenshots from different group chats, one of the first things that came up was, how are kids like that [Latino students] even allowed into the school,” she shared. 

For Harris the effects of the incident seemed tangible.

“Even after the hold [while] leaving and exiting the building, I can recall some of my friends and I getting certain looks and I could feel the bias towards you in certain situations, especially following that event [the hold],” she recalled.

The hold on January 22 has sparked conversations, not only about emergency communication but also the way misinformation and prejudice can spread in moments of uncertainty. As the school reflects on the hold, Health and Safety has made sure official protocols are posted in every classroom in the hope that future incidents are met with clarity and compassion rather than confusion and division.