Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge will be closed through the weekend after officials called a lockdown Thursday morning due to a “potential threat.”
At least seven historically Black colleges and universities across the South also received threats. Many have cancelled classes and events for the next few days while authorities investigate.
The last time HBCU campuses faced collective threats was in 2022, when at least 19 schools received bomb threats, which were eventually linked to a juvenile prank caller.
Southern University officials locked down the campus at 11 a.m. on Thursday and lifted the order less than two hours later, telling students and staff to leave or remain off campus.
Officials said in another update just before 2 p.m. that “enhanced security measures” were still in place, but that students living on campus could return.
The threats to HBCUs come a day after Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and a close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed while speaking on a Utah college campus.
Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat, said in a statement that he was “outraged and deeply disturbed” by Thursday’s threats.
“These reprehensible acts are not only an attack on institutions of higher learning — they are an attack on our history, our culture, and the promise of opportunity that HBCUs represent for generations of students,” Carter said.
