This morning, several HBCU’s were forced to lock down or postpone classes after a mass bomb threat was reported —on the first day of Black History Month.
Threats were reported at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia; Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia; and Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Bomb threats were also reported from Howard University in Washington, D.C., the University of the District of Columbia, also in Washington, D.C., Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida, Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, and Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi.
Hours later, the number had risen to 13.
“The vicious and racially motivated targeting of Florida’s first HBCU is extremely unsettling for our community,” university president of Edward Waters University, A. Zachary Faison, Jr. tweeted. “Law enforcement is currently investigating this threat and your safety is our paramount concern.”
Local and state police are investigating all threats. The Federal Bureau of Investigations also launched a probe.
This comes a day after six HBCUs were shut down due to a bomb threat, including Bowie State University.
The History of HBCUs
Before the Civil War, Black Americans in the Southern States were prohibited from receiving a full education. Even in some North States, whites were not comfortable with Black Americans having access to a full education. HBCUs materialized to provide Black Americans with access to a full education.
“They started in church basements, they started in old schoolhouses, they started in people’s homes,” says Marybeth Gasman, a historian at the University of Pennsylvania, told APM Reports. “[Former slaves] were hungry for learning … because of course, education had been kept from them.”
The first Black schools were Cheyney University, established in 1837 and the University of the District of Columbia, which was founded in 1851. In 1854, Lincoln University was established and the Wilberforce University just two years later.
Almost a century later, Frederick D. Patterson penned a letter to The Pittsburgh Courier proposing the formation of an alliance of Black Colleges.
On the heels of Patterson’s call to action, the United Negro Collge Fund (UNCF) was founded in 1944. At the time, the UNCF had just 27 member colleges and universities serving 12,000 students. To date, there are 107 formally recognized HBCUs around the country. The UNCF still remains the country’s leading private scholarship provider to students of color and has raised $5 billion to help nearly half a million students earn college degrees.
