The University of St. Thomas experienced an unauthorized hacking attempt targeting its servers, prompting a shutdown of key systems just days before the fall 2025 semester. The disruption left students unable to access course schedules, financial aid details, and enrollment confirmations, creating uncertainty ahead of classes. While no evidence of compromised university or personal data was found, IT teams quarantined affected servers as a precaution. The outage lasted at least four days, severely impacting operations, including freshman move-in and financial aid verification. Graduate students, like Alma Vazquez, expressed anxiety over unconfirmed aid and enrollment status. The incident reflects a broader trend of rising cyber threats in higher education, particularly post-COVID-19, with ransomware and system breaches becoming more frequent. The university prioritized data security but faced communication challenges, leaving students and staff in limbo as they prepared for the semester start. No ransom demands or data leaks were reported, but the attack disrupted critical services, highlighting vulnerabilities in institutional cybersecurity.