More than a dozen HBCUs got bomb threats on the 1st day of Black History Month

 

'I'm just tired of being terrorized like my grandparents were': More than a dozen HBCUs got bomb threats on the 1st day of Black History Month

A growing number of historically Black colleges and universities have had to lock down or postpone classes due to bomb threats on the first day of Black History Month.

At least 14 HBCUs reported bomb threats Tuesday. At least one of them, Howard University, also received a bomb threat Monday.

"We've had these challenges before," Howard University President Wayne Frederick said Tuesday. But "since I've been here (as a student) in 1988, it has not been this widespread and also, I think, this overt."

US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called the threats "disturbing" and said they would not be tolerated.

"My team will continue to work with students, faculty, and alumni to make sure HBCUs continue to be a safe place for students to learn," Cardona tweeted Tuesday.

These are some of the universities that reported bomb threats Tuesday:

Coppin State University

Someone called the Baltimore university and said there was a bomb on campus, Coppin State spokesperson Angela Galeano told CNN. She said the threat was immediately reported to campus police.

A message on the university's website said all classes would be online Tuesday.

"If you are on campus, please, shelter in place, and wait for further instructions," the message said. "Emergency officials are evaluating the campus and we will provide updates, as soon as possible."

Sabrina Taylor, the undergraduate program director at Coppin State, said she got a call at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday telling her not to come to work because there was an emergency on campus.

When she learned the emergency was a bomb threat, Taylor said she was saddened for the students.

"Many of our students in the HBCUs, they are first-generation college students. And they are there to advance their education and to create opportunity -- not only for themselves, but for their families," said Taylor, an assistant professor at the school.

"Now they have to deal with bomb threats."

"I wanted to encourage them to be empowered and I wanted to encourage them to realize that even though they are being threatened and they are experiencing adversity, they are walking in their purpose," she said.

"They are on their path to greatness, and they cannot let individuals who their intention is to cause destruction, chaos and fear and doubt, stop them from walking and their purpose."

Jackson State University

"Jackson State University received a bomb threat this morning at 4:15 a.m.," the university in Mississippi tweeted Tuesday.

"The Jackson Police Department and JSU Department of Public Safety have swept the campus and found the threat unsubstantiated. An all-clear has been issued."

Calvert White, a 22-year-old studying social science and education, lives in an apartment 10 minutes from campus.

"I'm uneasy," the Jackson State junior said. "HBCUs have a long history of physical threats just because of our existence. I think that the threats aren't individual or coincidental -- that it's a clear attack on Black students who choose to go to Black schools."

While it's not clear who made the threat, "I think the uncertainty, especially in the age of Covid and heightened race relations, is part of the goal of whomever has been making the threats," White said.

Like so many, White said he doesn't understand why such threats keep happening.

"But I understand that HBCUs are starting to see large influxes of students, supporters, donors, etc., and our presence is more important now than ever," he said.

"I think the idea of HBCUs in a current-day sense is taking over. They aren't just looked at as a beacon of the past, but a marker of the future."

full article there https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/02/01/us/hbcu-bomb-threats-tuesday/index.html