New York City ? The graduate school where a noose was found on the door of a black professor agreed Thursday to turn over security videotape after withholding it while police sought a subpoena to acquire the evidence.

Police claim that Teachers College – Columbia University’s graduate school of education – had agreed to give up the tape without a court order Wednesday. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said police officials were “disappointed and surprised” by the delay in a case that rocked the Ivy League campus.

Teachers College spokeswoman Diane Dobry said the school wanted to work in “the spirit of cooperation” with police, but privacy laws required it to demand a court order. Since a subpoena was obtained, “We are giving them everything,” she said.

Police hope the tapes will help identify possible suspects.