Friday, approx. 7:00 a.m.

“We wanted to make sure he wasn't hiding here,” Riley later said. Knowing that Tsarnaev had been a Harvard lifeguard, HUPD dispatched officers to the University's athletic facilities in Allston sometime around 7 or 8 a.m. They did not find anything suspect.

Many Harvard workers had reported on time Friday to early morning shifts, unaware of the trajectory of the previous night's dramatic events. Managing Director of Harvard University Dining Services David P. Davidson had organized a call that morning to determine the capacity of various eateries on campus. Since nonresidential buildings were closed, he redeployed employees who would normally staff eateries like Greenhouse Cafe to the Houses. Annenberg and all residential dining halls opened for breakfast as usual on Friday morning. Undergraduates gathered in dining halls to eat and monitor the ongoing situation.

Behind the scenes, CMT held conference calls every hour on the half hour. With the campus waking up, those discussions had expanded to include the administrative deans capable of voicing school-specific problems. In the hours to come, administrators advised the Class of 2017 not to come to Cambridge for Visitas, the campus preview weekend for admitted students whose programs were slated to begin that afternoon. The Law School canceled the spring reunions that had been scheduled for the following days. “Those were two very big decision points,” Hogarty said. “Safety was the absolute most important thing.” Harvard was adjusting to life under lockdown.

Friday, approx. 12:00 p.m.

Throughout the day, the University's crisis management communication system connected the University's top officials as they reacted to the day's events. With most campus eateries closed, by lunchtime administrators had arranged for Law School and Graduate School of Design students to eat at the College's Annenberg dining hall. Police officers and custodians joined graduate students as guests.

In the next few hours, although police continued the hunt for the Marathon bomber, things in Cambridge began to settle. Students began to venture into the Yard. Harvard Square businesses started to open previously shuttered doors. By mid-afternoon, members of the CMT, realizing things had begun to calm, transitioned to calls every hour and a half.

Friday, approx. 6:00 p.m.

As the afternoon wore on, Harvard had already started healing. Faust heeded official warnings to stay inside throughout the day and chimed in on CMT conversations from her Elmwood estate. When she finally ventured out of her home at 6 p.m., around the same time the lockdown was lifted, she joined Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds in Annenberg. There, the administrators chatted with freshmen about their experiences during the week that for many would be the most memorable of the academic year. On the other side of campus, University Provost Alan M. Garber '76 dropped by the Quad dining halls to do the same. A few hours later, Harvard affiliates watched from their computers and televisions as authorities apprehended Tsarnaev in a Watertown backyard. Reflecting on how Harvard handled its proximity to chaos, Garber said he had “never seen anything quite like the events of Marathon week.” “It makes you realize that this is an incredible community,” said Garber. “When it really matters, people pull together, time and again.”

—Staff writer Madeline R. Conway can be reached at mconway@college.harvard.edu.

Follow her on Twitter @MadelineRConway.

—Staff writer Nikita Kansra can be reached at nkansra01@college.harvard.edu.

Follow her on Twitter @NikitaKansra.