Howard University suffers bomb threats

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#USA, September 2, 2022 – Howard university students suffered 2 bomb threats in less than 48 hours last week, sparking renewed fear and frustration among students and parents.  University President Dr. Wayne Frederick slammed the calls describing them as they were, terrorism.

“It was difficult for me to witness in person students sitting in Banneker Park and heading to trailers on Sherman Avenue and crossing Georgia Avenue on their way to Blackburn Center in their pajamas and sleepwear.  This is terrorism, and it must stop.” he said.

The threats were aimed at the East and West Towers, which are residence halls, and came in around 2 a.m. Friday August 26^th.

Howard University is an HBCU, a Historically Black College or University, and between 60 to  80 percent of its population is black.  It is not the only HBCU to have received consistent threats of violence against its students and faculty.

The most recent bomb threat was the 8th for the school this year.  Between January and February 2022, the school received at least five, including one on January 4th.  That threat was in tandem with threats made to 7 other HBCUs on the same day, all by callers using racial slurs. No arrests have been made.

The White House has offered grants under the Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) program, but payouts have been slow.  US Vice President Kamala Harris is a Howard University Alumnus herself.

As the calls continue, students, faculty and Deans continue to query why the investigation is taking so long.

In no uncertain terms, President Frederick requested extra resources from law-enforcement agencies, and promised he would be speaking to as many of those agencies and elected federal officials as he could, to ensure this situation was prioritized.