The Phi Beta Kappa Society strongly condemns the repeated and continued bomb threats against Historically Black College and University campuses. These threats are racialized criminal violence designed to instill fear and disrupt institutions of higher learning that play an essential role in creating a vibrant democracy for our nation.
As attacks aimed at this important sector of higher education, these threats are an attack on the entire American higher education community. Former Phi Beta Kappa President John Hope Franklin said, “The love of learning is one of the most powerful values we can teach the generations to come. It has been a backbone of American pride and achievement and essential to freedom of thought and individual liberty. It is the envy of other societies that seek the kind of freedom of inquiry we have. Lose that and we lose something very principled and very American.”
Phi Beta Kappa believes that liberal arts and sciences should empower us to face structures that perpetuate racism, to voice demands for change, and to hold democracy to the highest standards. Inspired by these values, we voice our support for the HBCU community and its mission of inclusive excellence at this challenging time.
