HBCU President ‘Beyond Frustrated’ 6 Months Since Bomb Threats Targeted Black Colleges
More than six months have passed since the FBI announced a Joint Terrorism Task Forces investigation into racially motivated bomb threats at multiple Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationwide.
“This investigation is of the highest priority for the Bureau and involves more than 20 FBI field offices across the country,” an FBI statement dated Feb. 2 read. “These threats are being investigated as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes.”
Since then, the FBI has not announced any arrests or identified suspects. HBCU leaders want to see results.
“I’m beyond frustrated,” Carmen Walters, president of Tougaloo College in Mississippi, told a group of HBCU presidents earlier in August, according to Politico. “I’m very angry that no one has been brought to justice, but there’s been no conversation about the investigation at all.”
The series of bomb threats began on Jan. 4 when eight HBCUs, including Howard University and Spelman College, received calls from someone using racial slurs. At least seven more schools received similar calls by the end of the month. Another round of threats targeting more HBCUs were made in February, at the start of Black History Month.
The institutions have said the incidents created unexpected financial burdens, forced them to beef up campus security, and harmed the mental health of students, staff and faculty.
In March, the Biden-Harris Administration strongly condemned the threats and announced a “whole-of-government approach” to responding to the threats.
After the first incidents, the administration said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with more than 40 HBCU presidents to share information on grant programs, training resources, and other tools to strengthen campus safety and security.
The grants range from $50,000 to $150,000 per school and come from the Project School Emergency Response to Violence fund. Funds can be used to enhance campus public safety and mental health support for students.
Southern University Law Center in Louisiana announced on Aug. 15 that it received a federal grant to support student trauma recovery related to the bomb threats, noting that it was the first HBCU to receive this grant award.
HBCU leaders told Politico that they appreciate the programs, but the grant process is unwieldy.
“Why do we have to apply for a grant when you know I had a bomb threat? You know I had all these expenses,” the news outlet quoted Walters. “You’re telling me, ‘OK, you need to reinforce your buildings. You need to get a new sound system, get a new alarm system, do all these things’ — and there are no dollars to do that.
“I think it’s a complete joke. I think the grant process was just a way to say, ‘OK, here’s a bone. Stop crying. Stop complaining,’” she added
Lodriguez Murray, United Negro College Fund senior vice president of public policy and government affairs, told Politico that the FBI initially had a few calls with HBCU campus. Since then, the agency had declined requests for an update on their investigation, most recently in July.
“In the year 2022, when we see all kinds of other crimes being solved systematically and seriously, the fact that this one has not been solved, which gives the tone and tenor it is not being taken seriously, it’s unfathomable to this community,” Murray added.
