As students and administrators grapple with the scope of the largest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil, University administrators are trying s to respond to the unprecedented events.

Immediately after yesterday’s attacks, University officials set up a command post in Holyoke Center and beefed up staffing at the Operations Center that oversees facilities. The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) also added patrols and briefed President Lawrence H. Summers on security threats and concerns around the campus.

“The University is, of course, very concerned about the safety of campus,” HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano said.

Many HUPD officers were called in early or asked to stay late last night to help ensure an increased police presence around campus.

Following the closure of other tall buildings in Boston, the University evacuated William James Hall as a safety precaution. Additional officers were stationed at the main entrances to campus to regulate vehicular traffic and at key buildings around campus.

At the Holyoke command center yesterday, officials scrambled to coordinate and disseminate information throughout Harvard as staff watched the events unfold on a television projector screen.

Though the majority of Harvard’s various schools suspended classes and other business, many remained at least partially open in order to provide students and faculty with a place to gather to watch the unfolding tragedy.

Kennedy School of Government Dean Joseph S. Nye, Jr. led a discussion at the ARCO R Forum among students, faculty and foreign policy experts about the day’s events. Similar events and counseling sessions were held at many other schools.