Howard University officials awoke to a concerning post on TikTok earlier this week. A video on the popular social media app showed a group breaking into Benjamin E. Mays Hall, which used to house the Howard University School of Divinity.
Although the details of what was stolen have yet to be released, the possibilities are deeply troubling. In a letter, Howard University School of Divinity Dean Kenyatta Gilbert said that “high-value collections of art, administrative files, and other archival materials” were housed within the boarded-up building.
Dean Gilbert’s letter also raised concerns about potential damage to remaining items since the group allegedly shot off fire extinguishers indoors. Some of those historical documents include old copies of the oldest African American newspaper, The Christian Recorder, as well as artifacts relevant to the Black church.
While the blame for the incident has primarily fallen on the TikTokers who broke into the old school, alums have also pointed the finger at Howard for not better protecting valuable Black artifacts and historical records.
Alumnus Rev. Melech E.M Thomas wrote an open letter to the school chastising them for not properly storing the documents. “I am concerned about the way our institution is managing the archival resources of the School of Divinity,” wrote Thomas.
He went on to list a series of requests to better protect the materials still held in the building, including the “immediate recovery, removal and archiving” of all historically significant materials on the East Campus.
For their part, the University has said that they are taking this “very seriously” and have launched an investigation into the break-in.
As for the TikTokers who allegedly broke in, we still don’t know their identity, but if the sleuths on TikTokers team up with the Black History Tokers, they’ll get this solved in no time.