Historically Black colleges and universities, many of which recently received bomb threats, are eligible for grant funding under a U.S. Education Department program designed to help improve campus security, Vice President Kamala Harris was set to announce on Wednesday.
A day after the White House said her husband had tested positive for COVID-19, Harris was set to appear with Attorney General Merrick Garland, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Homeland Security Deputy Secretary John Tien to discuss steps to improve public safety across the United States.
Harris was expected to announce that historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, are now eligible for grant funding under the Project School Emergency Response to Violence program at the Education Department to improve campus security and provide mental health resources.
The FBI has been investigating bomb threats against at least 17 of these schools in late January and February, which was Black History Month. No devices were found at the schools that were threatened.
The White House said Harris will make clear that everyone should be able to learn, work, worship and gather without fear. She will discuss spikes in instances of violence and hate against Jewish, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and LGBTQ communities, the White House said in previewing the event.
Last March, Harris and President Joe Biden visited Atlanta after the fatal shootings of eight people, including six women of Asian descent, at area spas. Wednesday is the anniversary of those killings.
After husband Doug Emhoff's positive COVID-19 result was announced on Tuesday, Harris tweeted that he was doing fine and that she had tested negative and would continue to be tested. She later skipped a previously scheduled Tuesday evening appearance with Biden.
