Elizabeth City State University, an HBCU, evacuates campus after receiving bomb threat
Elizabeth City State University is evacuating campus after receiving a bomb threat Friday, making it the latest historically Black campus in North Carolina to be targeted in a recent string of threats at HBCUs across the nation.
The university issued an alert telling students and employees to leave campus immediately and stay away from the grounds.
Students without cars were instructed to meet in the Roebuck Stadium Parking Lot for transportation. Students with cars were told to report to the South Park Sports Complex immediately.
This threat comes on the heels of FBI investigations of bomb threats at Fayetteville State University, N.C. Central University in Durham, Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro reported over the past several weeks. None of those threats proved credible, according to university leaders.
UNC System President Peter Hans addressed the recent threats against UNC System institutions at the Board of Governors meeting Thursday, calling them “anonymous threats of violence meant to intimidate and divide us.”
“Over the course of history Black Americans have far too often faced violence and intimidation for daring to learn and study,” Hans said. “The recent bomb scares are a reminder of that painful past and of the barriers that too many of our students still face on the path to a higher education.”
State Senator Gladys Robinson, a Democrat from Greensboro, and Rep. Kelly Alexander, a Democrat from Charlotte and president of the Legislative Black Caucus, issued a statement earlier this week addressing the recent bomb threats during Black History Month.
“These growing threats against Historically Black Colleges and Universities in North Carolina and across the nation should be condemned, and taken seriously,” Robinson and Alexander said. “We applaud the FBI’s active involvement investigating these threats. Those responsible must be held accountable and brought to justice.”
ECSU is working with local law enforcement to respond to the situation.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Elizabeth City State University, an HBCU, evacuates campus after receiving bomb threat."
