Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Legacy of Resilience in the Face of Threats and Adversity

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have played a vital role in American higher education, providing opportunities for Black students, particularly during times of segregation and racial discrimination. However, these institutions have faced numerous challenges throughout their history, including violence, threats, and financial instability. This article explores the incidents of fires and threats that have plagued HBCUs, highlighting their resilience and enduring commitment to their mission.

A History of Violence and Threats

America has a long and violent history of trying to keep Black people out of classrooms. After the Civil War, many white people made violent threats to Black students and the institutions they attended, and in some cases perpetrated actual violence.

In 1740, South Carolina made it a crime to teach an enslaved person to read and write, and several states followed with similar mandates-doling out fines of $500 or more, and in some cases whippings, on anyone caught doing so. An 1847 law in Missouri banned schools for Black students and disallowed assemblies-including church services-that were led by Black people unless a sheriff was present.

Early Incidents of Arson and Destruction

Several HBCUs have been targeted by arson and destructive fires throughout their history. Wilberforce University, in Ohio, had several of its buildings damaged in an arson fire in 1865-two years after it had reopened, following a brief closure because of the Civil War, as the first college owned and operated by Black people. Lemoyne-Owen College, in Tennessee, was burned to the ground in 1866 during a race massacre, after federal troops withdrew from the area. Forty-six Black people were killed and 70 more were injured. A decade later, a fire destroyed the main building of Claflin University, in South Carolina-a local report suggested that the fire was accidental, though there was no follow-up coverage. In many instances, the fires threw the institutions-which tended not to have deep financial resources in the first place-into deeper fiscal distress. They’d try to rebuild, as Wilberforce, Lemoyne-Owen, and Claflin successfully did. But some institutions, like Roger Williams University in Tennessee-whose two main buildings were destroyed by fires in 1905, forcing it to move-closed their doors for good.

Bomb Threats and Other Acts of Violence

Fires weren’t the only concern. In 1960, ahead of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., someone called in a bomb threat to Fisk University, in Tennessee; 4,000 people were evacuated from the gymnasium. Bomb threats also accompanied the sit-in movement that began at North Carolina A&T, in Greensboro. And then there was state violence: the National Guard’s occupation of the very same North Carolina campus in 1969, and the incident at Jackson State University, in Mississippi, a year later when police opened fire on campus, killing two students and wounding a dozen more.

In 2023, officials said a gunman was confronted by campus security at Edward Waters University, the first historically Black college in Florida, before shooting three people at a nearby Dollar General store. Students at Tuskegee University, a private, historically Black institution, were among those wounded after gunfire erupted on campus in 2024, leaving one person dead and 16 others injured.

Recent Threats and Lockdowns

In recent years, HBCUs have experienced a resurgence of threats, including bomb threats and lockdowns. These incidents have disrupted campus life and raised concerns about the safety and well-being of students and staff.

2022 Bomb Threats

On Jan. 5, at least eight historically black colleges and universities received bomb threats, causing the campuses to issue lockdowns and cancel classes. A day later, in the predawn hours of the first day of Black History Month, it happened again. This time more than a dozen Black colleges received threats. Howard University, in the nation’s capital, was disrupted on each of the three occasions.

According to Fox News, more than a dozen additional bomb threats were reported on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, just as Black History Month began. One common characteristic of all the incidents was that the persons making the threats did not specify a location for the detonation of explosives. Over the course of their investigations, law enforcement agencies have concluded that the likely perpetrators of the bomb threats are “tech-savvy juveniles” making threats via phone calls. The fact that these threats are occurring exclusively at historically black colleges and universities lead many to believe that the threats are motivated by bias and are done to induce fear.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement on Feb. These continued bomb threats at HBCUs are extremely disruptive and disturbing for the students on campuses across the country. As recently as Feb. 14, Howard University in Washington, D.C., issued a shelter-in-place order as it was targeted for the fourth time in the last two months.

September 2024 Lockdowns

Multiple historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, went into lockdown after threats were directed at the campus, school officials announced. Alabama State University, Hampton University, Virginia State University, Southern University and A&M College, and Bethune-Cookman University locked down the morning of Thursday, Sept. 11, each citing potential threats made against the campuses. The lockdown at Southern University was later lifted, but all campus activities and classes were cancelled through the weekend, school officials announced on social media. Spelman College in Atlanta also asked students and faculty to avoid campus and increased security measures due to a threat against nearby Clark Atlanta University, though the shelter-in-place order was later lifted.

Alabama State told USA TODAY in a statement that it received "terrorist threats" and that it had shut down campus operations out of an abundance of caution. Hampton University canceled classes for Sept. 11 and 12, saying in a statement, "Hampton University has received notice of a potential threat and has ceased all non-essential activity, effective immediately." Florida A&M University cancels in-person classes as a precaution Following the threats directed at multiple HBCUs nationwide, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee announced plans to cancel in-person classes and its presidential convocation. While the university did not receive any threats, the school said that it will suspend in-person classes in an abundance of caution for the evening of Sept. 11 and all day Sept. 12, and shift to virtual learning.

Investigation and Response

The FBI says it has identified six persons of interest and suggested that they had “racist motivations.” However, some find it unconvincing that the FBI has not found any evidence nor has been able to trace any of the threats on these 17 different HBCU campuses. Some argue that It is the job of the FBI to gather intel and find out why threats like this occur and that the public needs to ask is, why has the FBI supposedly not found any evidence in these incidents?

Last month, after the first round of bomb scares, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona hosted a discussion with HBCU leaders to discuss strengthening their security. “To do their best learning, students must be able to focus on their education without fear or distraction. Acts of intimidation against HBCUs can’t and won’t be tolerated,” Cardona said.

The Fire at Knoxville College

A recent fire at Knoxville College, East Tennessee’s only historically Black college and one of the oldest in the state, serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing HBCUs.

Read also: Top HBCU Bands

The Elnathan Hall Fire

A building at Knoxville College, East Tennessee’s only historically Black college and one of the oldest in the state, was destroyed by fire on Nov. 4. Originally built in 1893 as a girl’s dormitory, Elnathan Hall later served as an administration building and classroom facility. Frank Shanklin, a member of Knoxville College’s Board of Trustees, said that Elnathan Hall was included among several campus buildings that were boarded up and had not been occupied for more than 40 years. According to Knoxville Fire Department spokesperson Mark Wilbanks, fires have been an ongoing occurrence on campus over the years and the structure was demolished Tuesday morning for safety reasons.

As of Nov. 7, fire investigators suggested the fire was intentionally set at its source. They specified that the “set” could be because of arson but also could have been due to cooking. Wilbanks explained, “Nothing new as far as any suspects or anything like that. We do believe it was a set fire. We don’t have any leads at this time, but the investigators were told a few people’s names.

Renee Kesler, president of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, a Knoxville museum dedicated to the history and culture of Black East Tennesseans, said she was overwhelmed by a rush of emotions when she heard about the blaze on campus. “The pictures of flames billowing from Elnathan Hall, a beloved place, evoked a deep sense of the erasure of history. State Rep.

Knoxville College's Struggles

Knoxville College is a small, non-accredited HBCU campus near downtown Knoxville. The college has been contending with debt, low enrollment, and a loss of accreditation. The college now only offers online classes, so the campus is largely vacant. Knoxville College is still trying to regain its accreditation and is also searching for a new president of the HBCU. Knoxville College lost its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation in 1997 due to financial difficulties and a consistently declining enrollment.

The loss of national accreditation in 1997 dealt a heavy blow to Knoxville College, accelerating a decline in student enrollment and intensifying its financial struggles. Classes have not been held on campus since 2017 due to concerns about building safety. Currently, the college offers all of its courses online. According to records, TRACS has provided the school with a list of 23 compliance violations that must be addressed in order to meet Institutional Eligibility Requirements (IERs) for accreditation. “Our application has been turned in but this is going to be a long process,” he said. Knoxville College’s latest Form 990, filed with the IRS for tax-exempt entities, shows that the school is $1.8 million in debt. Following submission of application, the college will embark on a self-assessment, evaluating its organizational structure, effectiveness, and areas for potential growth. If the institution meets the necessary standards, representatives appear before the Accreditation Commission, which may grant candidacy status.

In June, former President Leonard Adams announced his resignation. School officials initially laid out a timeline for Knoxville College’s presidential search, beginning on June 10, with recruitment and screening to continue through July 15. The plan included virtual candidate interviews in late July, followed by on-campus meetings with semifinalists in early August, giving them a chance to connect with the campus community.

Community Support and Resilience

Despite the challenges, there is a strong sense of community support and resilience surrounding Knoxville College.

“Are our hearts broken, absolutely. Is our resilience broken? Absolutely not,” Harris wrote. “We are asking the community to join us in taking a deep breath, grieving and moving on. “The community needs to become a stakeholder in this institution. This college carries the name of Knoxville and has done a great job of producing graduates who have stayed in Knoxville and who have been productive in building up this community,” Shanklin said. “There remains a mission for KC to survive and thrive for the benefit of the underserved and underrepresented,” said McKenzie “They remain on the path of regaining certification which will allow them to restart bachelor’s programs in this city.

Financial Instability and Underfunding

Violence is not the only threat to these institutions’ survival. Lack of funding has made many HBCUs’ future uncertain. A recent analysis by Forbes found that states have underfunded their public land-grant HBCUs-18 of them, in total-by at least $12.8 billion since 1987. But states were depriving HBCUs of money long before that. In 1871, for example, Mississippi promised Alcorn State University an appropriation of $50,000 a year for at least a decade. By 1875, as Reconstruction lawmakers were forced out of the state legislature, that appropriation had been reduced to $15,000 a year. A year later, it was reduced again, to $5,500. These indignities were not anomalous; they were standard. And yet, the institutions have persevered.

The Enduring Legacy of HBCUs

Despite the threats and challenges they have faced, HBCUs have demonstrated remarkable resilience and continue to play a vital role in American higher education.

Frederick, Howard’s president, has thought a lot about that inheritance recently. “Some of it is resilience and some of it is the courage to stand up when people are attacking you,” he told me. “One of the things we have been talking about as we returned to in-person learning was the fact that we have to fulfill our purpose even more so now, because of the need to have more lawmakers and policy makers-and people in general throughout society-who want to make [America] a better place for everybody.” He noted the outsize role that HBCUs play in producing Black politicians, judges, and doctors. “Howard, over the past couple of decades, has sent more African Americans to STEM Ph.D.s than Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Yale combined,” Frederick said.

His attitude is representative of the sort of courage that has defined HBCUs from the get-go. The more than 100 Black colleges that remain are progeny of that legacy, educating Black students even when doing so is dangerous.

Today, Howard’s campus is closed for a mental-health day. “We recognize that when you’re in a fight, you have to replenish your spirit sometimes,” Frederick told me. But he hopes this taxing week will strengthen the resolve of his students, who have seen a lot over the past several years. “It’s easy to see how they might think this is now becoming a norm,” he told me.

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