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The dozens of HBCUs that received bomb threats this year are now eligible for grants to support on-campus security, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Department of Education announced Wednesday (March 16).
The education institutions are specifically eligible to apply for the funds under a new program called Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV), The Hill reported. The grants offer short-term funding to local educational institutions "to assist in restoring a safe environment conducive to learning," a news release said.
The White House said the program is building off the $5.8 billion the Biden-Harris administration provided to HBCUs.
"HBCUs were founded to educate Black people in an America that refused to accept them as full human beings and prevented them –– because of racial discrimination –– from attending other colleges," the White House's statement reads in part.
"Threats to the education and well-being of Black Americans and HBCUs are an unfortunate part of American history," adding that the wave of bomb threats made to Black educational institutions "are reminiscent of the attempts during the Civil Rights Era to intimidate and provoke fear in Black Americans."
Project SERV will also provide HBCUs additional resources to improve campus mental health resources, safety and more.
The program, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, will help HBCUs "get back to doing what they do best –– educating the next generation of great leaders."
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