On the first day of Black History Month, over a dozen historically Black colleges or universities, or H.B.C.U.s, across the country have been subject to anonymous bomb threats that have put state and federal officials on high alert.
Among those schools are three Florida-based universities; Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida; Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach; and Florida Memorial Univerity in Miami Gardens. Howard University, located only a few blocks from the F.I.U. Washington D.C. Bureau also became a victim of this surge of threats.
Universities in Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Atlanta, Baltimore, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Mississippi have also reported threats.
This has garnered national attention as White House secretary Jen Psaki portrayed her thoughts on the matter.
“It is scary, it is horrifying, it is terrible that these students, these faculties, these institutions are feeling under threat,” Psaki told reporters. “[The President] is aware of these reports.”
This leaves students of these universities feeling anxious, disappointed, and frustrated at their schools’ seemingly racially targeted threats.
Charli Henderson, a sophomore at Howard University, voiced her disappointment with the targeted threats on H.B.C.U.s.
“The unfortunate thing is that they specifically targeted H.B.C.U.s,” said Henderson, “because it shows us that as much progress as we’re making, we’re not really sure if the world sees us or even cares about us.”
As of the time of writing, officials have yet to discover any bombs at the affected universities and at least four schools have been given the “all clear” message by midday Tuesday.
