A wave of reported threats against historically Black colleges and universities across the United States on Thursday prompted lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders and class cancellations, officials said. Authorities reported no injuries and said they were treating the calls seriously even as the FBI said there was no information indicating a credible threat.
Southern University in Baton Rouge, Alabama State University in Montgomery, Clark Atlanta University, Virginia State University, Hampton University and Bethune-Cookman University all reported precautionary security measures after receiving threats, university officials and local law enforcement said. Some campuses lifted lockdowns after searches, while others canceled classes for the remainder of the day or the week as they assessed safety and monitored the situation.
Southern University, which enrolls about 8,200 students, reported a “potential threat to campus safety” and placed students under lockdown for approximately an hour while law enforcement searched campus buildings, a university statement said. At Alabama State, officials ordered students to shelter in place as police combed through campus; the university declared an "all-clear" about two hours later but asked students to remain in their dorms and canceled classes for the remainder of the day.
Other affected institutions reported similar temporary safety measures. Spelman College, which is adjacent to an affected campus in Atlanta, issued a lockdown and announced stepped-up security. South Carolina State University tightened access rules on its Orangeburg campus, requiring anyone entering campus to show photo identification. Several HBCUs that did not receive threats also said they were increasing security out of caution.
The FBI told The Associated Press that it was investigating what it characterized as hoax threat calls and that it had no information indicating the calls were credible. Local law enforcement agencies said they were coordinating with federal partners and continuing to investigate the origin and nature of the calls.
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat from Louisiana, called the threats “reprehensible attacks” and said any threat against HBCUs is a threat against the broader community. "These attacks cannot be tolerated, minimized, or ignored," he said, urging swift action to protect students and staff.
Officials and security experts said the warnings came amid heightened anxiety on campuses following a recent series of violent incidents and a spate of earlier hoax calls that mimicked active-shooter situations. Don Beeler, chief executive officer of TDR Technology Solutions, which tracks swatting and hoax calls, said such incidents often rise after widely publicized violent events and that institutions tend to respond with extended precautions, such as cancelling classes for multiple days instead of a single day.
Universities nationwide have been on edge since the start of the academic year after at least a dozen campuses received realistic-sounding hoax calls about active shooters. Some callers have even played background audio of gunfire or used language intended to prompt the "run, hide, fight" responses taught in active-shooter training.
No arrests were immediately reported on Thursday. Campus officials said they would continue to work with law enforcement to investigate the threats and review security procedures and communication protocols. Students and families were urged to follow alerts issued by their institutions and to report any suspicious activity to campus police.
The coordinated nature and timing of the calls remain under investigation, and university leaders emphasized that while lockdowns have been lifted at several campuses, precautionary measures and heightened vigilance would remain in place as authorities seek to determine who made the calls and why.