Imagine being an incoming Howard University freshman, high off the excitement from Bison Week, getting to know your new classmates and settling into your new home for the next two semesters. Then, one day at 2:30 a.m, you’re forced to evacuate your newly decorated dorm room because the campus police were alerted about a bomb threat.
According to WUSA 9, the threat was targeting the East and West Towers Thursday Aug. 26. This was the second threat the school received this week, the previous one being Tuesday evening. All students who were asleep or on their way to sleep were forced to evacuate the building and weren’t cleared to return until 5:30 a.m.
Reports say police and university authorities did a sweep of the two towers with K-9 units and mechanical explosive locators. Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick called this situation an act of “terrorism.”
More on the bomb threat from WTOP:
“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,” Frederick said. “This is terrorism, and it must stop.”
The threat marked the eighth bomb threat the school has seen in 2022. Wayne called it a “kind of traumatic experience” and asked that faculty and staff allow students time to deal with the anxiety and interrupted sleep.
“This isn’t about resilience and grit,” he said. “We require extra resources from all law enforcement agencies directed toward solving this ongoing threat and bringing those who perpetrate its negative effects to full justice under the law.”
D.C. police said they did not find an explosive during their investigation. No suspect has been identified in the threats against Howard.
I was terrified on my first night at school. I was busy anticipating what it was going to be like living away from home. The last thing an incoming freshman would want to worry about, during their first week of classes, is a bomb threat. What makes it more sinister is that this is the eighth bomb threat Howard University has seen this year. A total of 57 HBCUs have received bomb threats this year, per NBC News.
“This is happening in buildings where all of my friends live. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to them,” said one student to NBC News. “It’s a little scary because it keeps happening,” said another student.
Not only does it keep happening, but particularly to Black students. Over a dozen schools were threatened on the first day of Black History Month and since then, no arrests have been made. Our students don’t deserve to live in fear.