Historically Black colleges and universities, many of which recently received bomb threats, are eligible for grant funding under a U.S. Education Department program designed to help improve campus security, Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Wednesday.
“Today, our administration is sending a very clear message: This intimidation will not stand, and we will not be intimidated,” Harris said. “We will do everything in our power to protect all our communities from violence and from hate.”
What You Need To Know
- Vice President Kamala Harris Harris announced that historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, are now eligible for grant funding under the Project School Emergency Response to Violence program at the Education Department to improve campus security and provide mental health resources
- Harris noted that the day’s events took place the anniversary of the 2020 Atlanta shootings in which eight people — six of Asian descent — were killed at Georgia massage parlors: “Every American should be able to learn, work, worship and gather without fear”
- The FBI has been investigating bomb threats made against at least 17 historically Black colleges and universities in January and February
- The FBI has been investigating bomb threats against at least 17 of these schools in January and February
A day after the White House said her husband had tested positive for COVID-19, Harris appeared with Attorney General Merrick Garland, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary John Tien and Thomas Hudson, president of Jackson State University, to discuss steps to improve public safety across the United States.
Harris noted that the day’s events took place the anniversary of the 2020 Atlanta shootings in which eight people — six of Asian descent — were killed at Georgia massage parlors. Last year, Harris and President Joe Biden visited Atlanta in the wake of the attack.
“Today, one year after the attack, we are reminded of the terrible cost of violence, xenophobia and hate. Every American should be able to learn, work, worship and gather without fear,” Harris said. “A harm against any one of our communities is a harm against all of us.”
Harris announced that historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, are now eligible for grant funding under the Project School Emergency Response to Violence program at the Education Department to improve campus security and provide mental health resources. The short-term grants, called Project SERV grants, will only be given to schools that have received threats significantly impacting their learning environments.
The administration, she said, also plans to release a resource guide for colleges and universities to detect, prevent, and recover from threats and acts of violence.
The FBI has been investigating bomb threats against at least 17 of these schools in January and February, which was Black History Month. No devices were found at the schools that were threatened. The threats led to schools implementing lockdowns, issuing shelter-in-place orders, switching to virtual instruction for the day or canceling classes altogether.
According to the White House, more than 80 anonymous bomb threats have been made against HBCUs, historically black churches, and other faith-based and academic institutions.
Harris received her bachelor’s degree from Howard University in Washington, which has received multiple bomb threats.
Before introducing Harris, Hudson observed that the threats made against his university and others fell on the first day of February’s Black History Month. “It is disheartening that we have to acknowledge tht racial bias and bigotry are still very much prevalent, but to let it go unchecked is a disservice to all who fought and died in the name of equity and equality,” Hudson said.
After husband Doug Emhoff’s positive COVID-19 result was announced on Tuesday, Harris tweeted that he was doing fine and that she had tested negative and would continue to be tested. She later skipped a previously scheduled Tuesday evening appearance with Biden.
