{
  "id": "2025-09-11-florida-am-university-preventive-virtual-classes",
  "slug": "florida-am-university-preventive-virtual-classes-2025-09-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Florida A&M University",
    "shortName": "FAMU",
    "state": "FL",
    "type": "hbcu",
    "alertSystemName": "FAMU Alert",
    "enrollment": 9700
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-09-11",
    "endDate": "2025-09-12",
    "type": "threat-of-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "headline": "Classes moved online for two days as a precaution during an HBCU threat wave",
    "headlinePublic": "Classes moved online for two days as a precaution during an HBCU threat wave",
    "summary": "On September 11-12, 2025, [Florida A&M University](https://www.famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php) (Florida's only public HBCU) shifted all classes to virtual instruction and sent employees to remote work despite having received no direct threat. The decision was a precautionary response to the [coordinated wave of hoax threats](https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/11/us/hbcu-lockdown-potential-threats) targeting at least seven other HBCUs that morning. FAMU resumed normal operations on Monday, September 15, 2025.",
    "outcome": "No injuries; no direct threat received. FAMU shifted all main and satellite campuses to virtual learning for September 11-12, 2025 and employees worked remotely. Normal operations resumed September 15, 2025.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Morning of September 11, 2025 (Eastern Time)",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "FAMU Police Department is aware of recent email threats reported across the higher education community. At this time, FAMU has not received any threats. In response to these threats across higher education, all classes for the main and satellite campuses will shift to virtual learning, and employees will shift to remote work on Thursday, September 11, through Friday, September 12. Normal operations will resume Monday, September 15.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php",
      "sourceDescription": "FAMU Alerts Archive 2025",
      "annotations": [
        "Unlike most universities in the September 11, 2025 HBCU wave, FAMU did NOT receive a direct threat, the decision to go virtual was a precautionary measure based on threats to other HBCUs",
        "FAMU's preemptive posture differed from peer HBCUs such as VSU and Hampton, which locked down in response to their own direct threats",
        "The shift covered both the main Tallahassee campus and FAMU's satellite locations, including the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Crestview-Peaden campus"
      ],
      "characterCount": 435
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Friday afternoon, September 12, 2025 (Eastern Time)",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Florida A&M University will resume normal operations for all campuses on Monday, Sept. 15.\n\nBuilding Access\n\nThe college/school facilities are subject to lockdown access rules until Monday, Sept. 15. If access is needed earlier, faculty and staff may contact the Service Response Center at (850) 599-3525 or Central Plant at (850) 599-3266.\n\nClasses & Academic Support\n\nClasses: In-person classes will resume on Monday, Sept. 15. Instructors will communicate any course-specific adjustments via Canvas or email.\n\nFlexibility: Faculty are encouraged to provide reasonable flexibility for assignments affected by the recent disruptions.\n\nLibrary Services: Coleman Library (main campus) will reopen and resume normal weekend operations on Saturday and Sunday (Sept 13-14) prior to the full return of campus activities on Monday.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "FAMU Alerts Archive 2025 — resume normal operations Sept 15 notice",
      "annotations": [
        "FAMU continued operational reductions through Friday despite continuing to have no direct threat",
        "Modifying dining services and engineering instruction at the FAMU-FSU College demonstrated the cost of precautionary protective posture",
        "By Friday evening, FAMU communicated a return-to-normal plan for Monday, September 15"
      ],
      "characterCount": 825,
      "sourceUrl": "https://famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php"
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of September 11, 2025, [Florida A&M University](https://www.famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php) (Florida's only public HBCU) became one of the few historically Black institutions to take preventive action without receiving a direct threat. As [at least seven HBCUs in five states received hoax threat calls](https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/11/us/hbcu-lockdown-potential-threats) that morning, FAMU announced that all classes would shift to virtual instruction for September 11-12 and employees would work remotely. The decision was notable: FAMU [had not received any direct threat](https://www.highereddive.com/news/hbcus-lock-down-campus-threats/759962/), but chose preemptive risk reduction over normal operations. Other Florida HBCUs that received direct threats (including [Bethune-Cookman](https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/09/11/potential-threat-prompts-lockdown-at-bethune-cookman-university-classes-canceled/)) locked down after the calls came in. FAMU's posture reflected lessons learned from the [2022 wave of HBCU bomb threats](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/01/1077332589/hbcu-bomb-threats-historically-black-colleges) that shut down dozens of campuses, and the heightened anxiety following the September 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. The university [resumed normal operations](https://www.famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php) on Monday, September 15, 2025. FAMU's decision traded two days of in-person operations for a reduced-risk posture during the threat wave.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "FAMU was distinctive among HBCUs in the September 11 wave for taking preemptive protective action without receiving a direct threat",
    "The decision applied to all main and satellite campuses including the joint FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Crestview-Peaden campus",
    "FAMU's communication explicitly stated it had received no threats and named threats to other higher education institutions as the rationale",
    "The two-day virtual posture meant FAMU did not have to issue mid-day lockdown alerts as some peer HBCUs did, at the cost of disrupting in-person instruction without a confirmed threat"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "FAMU Alerts Archive 2025",
      "url": "https://www.famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Several HBCUs lock down following campus threats (Higher Ed Dive)",
      "url": "https://www.highereddive.com/news/hbcus-lock-down-campus-threats/759962/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "HBCU's under lockdown, including Virginia State University, after receiving threats (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/11/us/hbcu-lockdown-potential-threats",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Multiple HBCUs Go On Lockdown in Response to Threats (Inside Higher Ed)",
      "url": "https://www.insidehighered.com/news/institutions/minority-serving-institutions/2025/09/11/multiple-hbcus-go-lockdown-response",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "FAMU Alerts Archive 2025",
      "url": "https://famu.edu/alerts/archive-2025.php",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "hbcu",
    "florida",
    "tallahassee",
    "preemptive",
    "virtual-classes",
    "september-11-2025-hbcu-wave",
    "post-charlie-kirk",
    "no-direct-threat"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-17",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}