An anonymous threat of campus violence has the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on edge.

"Beware the Ides of October, the time is nigh and the bullets will fly," warned an anonymous written threat sent to the university in September. Every month has an ides and in October it falls on Wednesday the 15th.

This is midterms week on campus and the threat shadowed an otherwise gorgeous fall school day. The university stepped up police presence around campus and faculty had the option of adjusting their schedules, holding classes online or excusing student absences in light of the security alert.

"We don't want to set the precedent of cancelling classes every time someone makes an anonymous threat," said university spokesman Blake Fry.

For the most part, classes and campus activities were unaffected by the increased security alert. But at a university job fair, Fry said, a third of the invited employers canceled because of the threat.

The last threat of this sort at River Falls was five years ago, when racist graffiti scrawled in a library restroom threatened violence against minorities. Students responded by staging rallies to protest bigotry.

"The safety and security of the UW-River Falls campus community is our highest priority," University Police Chief Karl Fleury said in a statement. "There will be an increased law enforcement presence on or around campus for your overall safety. The UW-River Falls Police Department and its law enforcement partners continue to investigate this matter."

Police are asking anyone with information about the threats to contact them at 715-425-3133. Anyone who spots "any suspicious or unusual behavior or activity" around campus is asked to call 911 immediately.