The Department of Education is giving aid to for two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that received bomb threats this year. The department will award $420,000 in Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) funds to Tougaloo College in Jackson, Ms., and $80,000 to Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, N.C., The Hill reports. “As Secretary of Education, I want to make it abundantly clear that the Biden-Harris administration will not tolerate bomb threats or any efforts to terrorize students of color and everyone who lives, works, and studies at our Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. He said the bomb threats strained college resources due to campus lockdowns, class cancellations and the use of law enforcement. He said the threats " shattered students’ sense of safety and heightened anxiety throughout these campus communities."
The grant money is targeted to support student trauma recovery programs, add security officers, and expand mental health support. The Department of Education plans to announce more Project SERV grants later. Last month, it granted $133,000 to the Southern Law University Law Center. More than 50 HBCUs – out of 101 total – have received racially motivated bomb threats this year. No arrests have been made, but the Biden administration has launched criminal probes. Members of Congress expressed frustration over the lack of progress in investigations in March, at a time when a third of the HBCUs had been targeted.