| | | | |  | | By Bianca Quilantan | Presented by Sallie Mae® | UNDERREPORTED THREATS — More than three dozen leaders of private historically Black colleges and universities met in March for a closed-door meeting to discuss the slew of bomb threats made to their institutions this year. But the campus leaders wanted to talk about different threats — the ones their institutions were not reporting to law enforcement. — One institution said it received phone calls threatening the campus if it chooses to be a polling place during November's midterm elections and if its students show up in droves to vote, said Lodriguez Murray, United Negro College Fund senior vice president of public policy and government affairs, who spoke to POLITICO about the meeting. Another leader said the mural in front of their campus is routinely defaced. One institution said they've routinely received threats with racial slurs, "saying that their educational mission is offensive to the person calling." — "There are all kinds of other threats going on that are not the bomb threats but are no less serious," Murray said . "Other threats are underreported because of the attention that the bomb threats are receiving." — Fear of copycats has led institutions to keep quiet about other threats, said Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough, especially since federal law enforcement has yet to charge anyone for the dozens of high-profile bomb threats. — "Sometimes people don't want to report because they are afraid that if they talk about it openly that makes them a target," said Kimbrough, who was at the meeting and chairs the UNCF member presidents. "They were just saying, 'We haven't done any media because we didn't want to be sort of on the radar.' But the list of HBCUs is public, so you can't hide if somebody just wants an HBCU." — Some institutions have also expressed that these threats are an ongoing, everyday situation they live with. "They just deal with them and move on, call law enforcement sometimes and continue the business of operating their campus, which is part of the history of the schools," Murray said. IT'S MONDAY, APRIL 4. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. HAVE WE MET YET? Let's grab coffee. Ping me at bquilantan@politico.com to chat. Send tips to my colleagues Jessica Calefati at jcalefati@politico.com, Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com and Michael Stratford at mstratford@politico.com. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
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'WHAT IF THE WOLF CRIES WOLF' — In cities where multiple bomb threats have been made, local police departments are sometimes not conducting sweeps because previous sweeps have yet to turn up explosives, Murray said.
— "Dr. Kimbrough uses the phrase: 'What if the wolf cries wolf?' What if these threats continue, and there actually is a bomb and the police departments are not doing actual sweeps and the worst thing happens?" He said.
— Kimbrough's institution received a bomb threat in late February. Two threats had been made at neighboring HBCU Xavier University, and no bombs were found during the New Orleans Police Department's sweep. — "They were just like, this is a hoax, and we're not bringing out the dogs. We're not doing a full sweep," he said. "That's the part that made me a little nervous. … They left it up to us to be able to do that. But I understand that there are police shortages all across the country."
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | 'WE STILL NEED SOMEONE TO BE CAUGHT' — Last month, federal law enforcement said they narrowed their bomb threat investigation to a group of six people but haven't been able to attribute the threats. News reports have said the FBI has identified the suspects as "tech-savvy" juveniles. — Ryan T. Young, FBI executive assistant director of intelligence, told the House Oversight Committee their investigation has led to "one person and a small group." No arrests have been made, he told lawmakers, and there have been "challenges with attribution" because "some of [the threats] come from encrypted platforms." He also said the FBI was concerned about copycats, and the bureau is only investigating bomb threats made since Jan. 31, though the threats started in early January. — The Biden administration has taken some action by allowing HBCUs to apply for emergency grants, following the series of bomb threats. They range from $50,000 to $150,000 per school and are part of the Project School Emergency Response to Violence cash intended to help schools recover from a violent or traumatic event. The grants can be used to bolster campus public safety and mental health support for students. — UNCF and Kimbrough lauded the additional funds, but the Dillard University president said, "We want more; we want some arrests." "We need someone to be arrested," Kimbrough added. "We have to show people who are doing this that we can find you, and you will be held accountable … Trying to improve our security, I mean, that's great. But in the end, we still need someone to be caught." NO RESOLUTION YET — HBCU leaders have expressed frustration over the lack of a resolution to the threats from federal law enforcement. Your host asked Tony Allen, leader of President Joe Biden's Board of Advisors on HBCUs, at a White House event unveiling the grants whether he shared that sentiment. — "I'm not frustrated; I'm letting the normal course of action take its course," responded Allen, who is also president of Delaware State University, which has received threats. "What I am heartened by is the fact that we have spent time with Secretary Mayorkas many times and Secretary Cardona. We already know where the president and vice president are. … So what they need to do is their normal course of action as it relates to apprehending the culprits and making sure justice is served."
| | | | A message from Sallie Mae®:   | | | | | | POLLING PLACE THREAT — It's difficult to assess how many HBCUs will be a polling place in a given year because it "depends on the size and where they're placed in their communities," said Dylan Sellers, national HBCU manager for Campus Vote Project. But, threats to campuses are "exacerbating the issues that these HBCUs were already facing when it came to turning out the vote," he said. — Institutional funding is a common theme when it comes to barriers to getting students out to vote, Sellers said, and the bomb threats could put a strain on voting resources "because they may have to reroute funding for security now." — It's still too early to tell whether the bomb threats will affect HBCU student voting in the midterm elections, Sellers said. "It could go either way. The Black community has to deal with trauma differently and more regularly, especially when it comes to violence against them wanting to be considered full citizens in this country — that's historic." "Sometimes that drives us to come out in droves," he said. "This could end up having the adverse effect that these domestic terrorists wanted and could galvanize these students."
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | FIRST IN MORNING ED: GROUPS URGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO STOP TITLE IX RULEMAKING — A coalition of 26 organizations, led by the Defense of Freedom Institute, sent a letter today to Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon urging the Education Department to halt its plans to unveil a new Title IX rule, which mandates how schools must respond to sexual misconduct complaints. A new proposed rule is expected sometime this month. — The Education Department is expected to overturn much of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' Title IX rule, one of the defining policies of her tenure. She said the rule officially codifies protections to hold schools accountable by ensuring sexual assault survivors aren't brushed aside and no accused student's guilt is predetermined. — The groups are urging the department to preserve the DeVos rule and argue there is no need for new regulations. "To date, neither the White House nor ED has pointed to any plausible reason why it might be necessary to amend the 2020 Rule," they wrote, adding that the rule has survived a barrage of legal challenges. They said the rule bolsters due process protection for both the complainant and the respondent. Additionally, the groups want to ensure that a religious exemption will remain in the rule. — The Biden Education Department is also expected to codify protections for transgender students for the first time in its new rule by prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity. The groups called it an "extremist position" and argued that the law, which prohibits discrimination in education, "demonstrates an understanding that 'sex' is male or female — binary and biological." "Any policy regarding the extension of Title IX to gender identity must emerge through the legislative process, not rulemaking," they wrote.
| | | NEW CHARTER SCHOOL RULE REPORT — The Progressive Policy Institute's report analyzes the Education Department's new proposed rule on charter schools that researchers say "would make it more difficult for charter school start-ups to get federal support." — "The rules impose a raft of new requirements on applicants for federal grants to state education agencies, charter school management organizations, and grants to groups seeking to organize new charter schools," researchers wrote. The department is proposing to "eliminate federal support for for-profit management contracts." And the agency wants to "encourage independent public charter schools to enter into 'partnerships' with central school districts," "ensure charter schools are racially and socioeconomically diverse," and require charter applicants to submit a "community impact" report.
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