Several historically black universities (HBCUs) have fallen into lockdown after being threatened by campus, school officials have announced.
Alabama State University, Hampton University, Virginia State University, Southern University and A&M Collegeand Bethune-Cookman University They were trapped on the morning of Thursday September 11th, each cites potential threats posed to campus.
Spellman College in Atlanta has also asked students and faculty to avoid an increase in campus and security measures due to the threat to nearby Clark-Atlanta University. Clark-Atlanta University campus police confirmed that a threat has emerged in a statement to local media and that a shelter order has been issued for the location.
Virginia shared a “urgent warning” at 8:30 a.m., closing campus and advised students, faculty and staff to check their emails. Campus police, along with local, state and federal law enforcement partners, are “actively investigating the credibility of the threats we have received today,” the university said in a statement.
Alabama told USA Today in a statement that it had received a “terrorist threat” and that it had shut down its campus operations due to a wealth of caution.
“We are working closely with the appropriate law enforcement agencies to assess the situation and to ensure the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and the broader ASU community,” the statement said.
Hampton University cancelled its classes on September 11th and 12th, and in a statement, “Hampton University received notification of potential threats, has stopped all non-essential activities and has enabled them immediately.”
The lockdown follows years of threat, violence at HBCU
MSNBC host Pastor Al Sharpton condemned the threat and noted that some of the approximately 100 HBCUs have been targeted in recent years. USA Today discovered more than two dozen HBCUs in 12 states, and Washington, DC was targeted by bomb threats in 2022, prompting investigations into federal hate crimes and violent extremism.
In 2023, authorities said gunmen faced campus security at Edward Waters University, Florida’s first historically black university, before shooting three people dead at a nearby dollar general store. Students at Tuskegee University, a private, historically black facility, were among the injured after a gunshot exploded on campus in 2024.
“Whether it was the brave murder of Charlie Kirk yesterday or a threat to today’s HBCU, we’ve seen too much violence on campus,” Sharpton said in a statement. “Universities and universities must be places of free expression and discussion in a respectable, engaging and productive way. What we’ve seen in the last two days is anything else.”
This is a developing story.
Contributors: John Bacon, Alex Gladden, Tao Nuguen, Francisco Guzman, Claire Thornton
