At least six historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country received bomb threats early on Monday morning, prompting class cancellations and lockdowns. By mid-day ET, the six colleges that had received the threats – Albany State University, Bethune-Cookman University, Bowie State University, Delaware State University, Howard University and Southern University and A&M College – had issued all-clears and opened their campuses, but investigations continue.
At all affected universities, officials swiftly took action after receiving the threats.
Albany State University: After Albany State University received a threat Monday morning, school administration cancelled classes and university operations until further notice while law enforcement officials investigate, according to local news reports. Employees and students who commute were told to stay away.
Bethune-Cookman University: Police in Daytona Beach, Fla. said that someone called in a bomb threat, claiming there were multiple bombs on the Bethune-Cookman University campus, adding a warning that there would be a campus shooting at lunch time. The caller claimed to be with a neo-Nazi organization. Students on site sheltered in place before the lockdown was lifted at about 11 a.m., but students were encouraged to continue sheltering in place and classes were cancelled for the day.
Bowie State University: School officials closed the Bowie State University campus and issued a shelter-in-place mandate after receiving a threat that explosives had been placed in an academic building on campus shortly after 7 a.m. The school tweeted an alert at 7:30 a.m. Maryland State Police cleared the scene after a campus-wide search, but classes and university offices are operating virtually while the investigation continues, says local news outlets.
Delaware State University: The Dover, Delaware school received a threat before 7 a.m., and officials shut down the campus and immediately issued emergency alerts to staff and students. Students were instructed to remain in their residence halls. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day although the lockdown was lifted just after 1 p.m., according to local news reports. Multiple agencies, the police, emergency medical services and the fire department were on hand during the lockdown.
Howard University: For Howard University and some of the other HBCUs, today’s bomb threat was the second in the past month, with the first threats occurring on January 4. These scares prompted university administration to relocate faculty and staff while the school performed searches of the area, opening the school again after no devices or suspicious packages were found.
Howard University spokesman Frank Tramble said in a statement, “Our priority is the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff and we vehemently condemn all actions that threaten the safety of our community."
Southern University and A&M College: As was the case for the other affected HBCUs, Southern University and A&M College received a call at around 7 a.m. and school officials quickly sent alerts to students and staff and placed the campus on lockdown. While the campus is not shut down, classes and normal operations were cancelled for the day but residential students are now admitted to dining and fitness center facilities. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, February 1, according to local reports.
In the wake of this latest rash of targeted bomb threats, institutions may want to revisit their emergency response protocols for similar incidents. Fierce Education offers 10 tips for bomb threat response for higher ed.