5 HBCU Campuses On Lockdown After Receiving Threats
At least two HBCUs in Virginia, two more in Atlanta, Ga., and one in Alabama are reportedly under threat of terrorism, causing campuses to be temporarily shut down and students to be issued shelter-in-place orders.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, as of Thursday, Virginia State University and Hampton University have closed their campuses, and students, faculty, and staff have been urged to check their VSU emails for updates.
“VSU received a threat to our campus,” the university wrote. “Out of an abundance of caution, VSU remains on lockdown.”
Hampton announced that “all campus activities and classes are canceled on Thursday, September 11, and Friday, September 12,” warning that it “has received a notice of a potential threat and has ceased all non-essential activity.”
At around the same time that the two Virginia colleges were making their sudden announcement, campus police at Clark Atlanta University confirmed that administrators had issued a shelter-in-place order for students and faculty due to a “situation on campus.” Clark officials described the order as a “precautionary measure.“
“We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of the campus community,” they said in a statement, according to Atlanta News First. “Our priority is the safety of all students, faculty and staff.”
And because Spelman College is so close to Clark, it has also issued a shelter-in-place order for students and staff, noting that officials have “increased security presence across campus” and the two main entrances.
Meanwhile, Alabama State University (ASU) has also gone into lockdown, suspending activities and directing students and staff to remain indoors or avoid campus altogether. ASU said that, much like the other four schools, the decision was made after administrators received what they described as “terroristic threats.”
Bruh — what the hell is going on?
None of these colleges and universities has elaborated much on the nature of the threats they received, but, needless to say, there has been a lot going on as of late.
On Wednesday, the world was shocked by the news that right-wing rising star Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event at Utah University. Kirk’s death doesn’t appear to have anything to do with Black people — outside of the fact that it happened at a college and that Kirk happened to have had a well-earned reputation for being an anti-Black bigot with a penchant for generalizing Black people as violent criminals prone to “gang activity.” Still, according to WTKR News 3, some Hampton students fear the threat to their school might have something to do with the killing, video footage of which immediately went viral.
“I definitely do think we stick out more as a target,” HU student Amirah Woodruff told WTKR. “It definitely does feel like we have a target on our back right now.”
The only thing that is clear here is that Black people simply can’t mind their own business in this country without being under threat — not even when we’re simply trying to go to class.
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