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The Worst Ways to Duck Your Obligations

by L. Turner

Ducking academic obligations reached a new low on Monday when a woman allegedly called in a bomb threat at Quinnipiac University's graduation to avoid getting caught lying about her lack of a diploma. The 22-year-old woman, Danielle Shea, was wearing a cap and gown when she allegedly called in a bomb threat — twice — in order to derail the school's graduation ceremony. Shea's family had come to the school for the occasion. The only problem? Shea hadn't been enrolled since May 2013.

Shea was never going to get a diploma, according to local TV station WSFB, because she ran out of money to pay tuition after last year. When family arrived and saw that Shea wasn't in the program, she apparently freaked out. The stress was apparently enough to get Shea to call in a threat to a police station. Make that two threats. Fifteen minutes after making a call saying there was a bomb in the library, she called again, WSFB reported:

Several bombs are on campus, why haven't you canceled graduation yet?

Yikes. As a result of the phone calls, the 5,000-person graduation ceremony was delayed an hour and a half. Shea was arrested. She's not the first to make a bad call (literally) in response to a highly stressful academic situation. Here are a few other people who made similarly bad decisions:

1. Too Freaked Out to Take a Final

Eldo Kim, a 20-year-old Harvard student, famously called in a bomb threat to avoid taking finals in 2013.

2. Too Drunk to Finish Homework

Lori L. Knight, 39, allegedly got too drunk to finish her homework and called in a bomb threat to Lindenwood University to avoid getting caught. It didn't work out.

3. Another Finals Meltdown

Evelyn Hubbard allegedly called in a (fake) bomb and threatened to shoot five professors at Loyola University in New Orleans the morning she was supposed to take an exam. She, too, sent more than one, which ultimately got her caught and indicted.

Don't try and get out of things with fake bomb threats.