On Friday a video of a group of content creators breaking into Howard University’s Benjamin E. Mays Building went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms. The video showed the group walking around the building surveying the various sectors and contents found and documenting their experience. They also sprayed a dry ice fire extinguisher, with one small portion of the video showing them spraying it on a statue.
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In a statement written by Reverend Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert, the Dean of the School of Divinity, Howard University condemned the video as well as the assumption that the building was abandoned.
“We take this incident of trespassing very seriously and the Howard University Department of Public Safety (DPS) has already begun investigating the matter…The creator of the TikTok admitted that the group had trouble entering the building, with its boarded windows and doors, but the group persisted and was able to force entry into the building through a mechanical room. While DPS continues to investigate, we want to make it abundantly clear that the University condemns the unlawful entry of this group of misinformed individuals. “
The building, which is located on the east campus, housed the Howard University School of Divinity from 1987-2015 and was planned for redevelopment as early as 2015. As a result, the School of Divinity was moved to the west campus and the institution worked to redevelop the east campus and work on collaboration with the DC Preservation League to designate the east campus as a “historic landmarked district”.
The statement by Reverend Dr. Gilbert also indicates that sensitive documents were removed from the building.
“In 2015, the School of Divinity was relocated from Mays Hall on the University’s East Campus to its current home at the University’s West Campus, as the East Campus site was planned for redevelopment. At that time, all primary instructional content necessary for maintaining the school’s coursework and accreditation was transferred to the school’s new location. This included high-value collections of art, administrative files, and other archival materials. The remainder of the school’s possessions continued to be stored at Mays Hall due to limited capacity of the school’s new space. In 2017, the University began working to redevelop the East Campus in accordance with the District of Columbia’s comprehensive plan. Most recently, the University began collaborating with the DC Preservation League to designate East Campus as a historic landmark district, enabling the University’s plan to revive the 23-acre site.
She continued, “Despite the University’s efforts to remove historically relevant materials from the site in 2015, the actions of those who trespassed and broke into Mays Hall remind us how some are willing to violate the sacred boundaries of our beloved HBCU campuses and threaten to embolden others with similar actions. In light of this incident, Howard University’s Department of Public Safety will ramp up existing patrols of the site and the University will work to reassess the contents of the building and secure it from unlawful access. The University is taking the necessary steps to ensure the School of Divinity’s most precious archival materials are in safekeeping.”
The creator of the video @urbexjetz has since taken the video down from his platforms. He also made several Instagram Story posts responding to the backlash from HBCU & Howard University alumni as well as the statement from Reverend Dr. Gilbert.
He first responded to a post that falsely claimed that the group of content creators that filmed the video were all white, saying:
“It is pretty bold of whoever this is to assume me and my the people I was with are white. Not that race matters, but we are all different races. One of the individuals that I was with was an African-American who was also curious on the history of his relative's school. (you can see him for a split second in the video) I do not make these videos to diminish the institutions who the property belongs to, but rather to raise awareness on these type of things. I am always working with people who have the power and will to restore these historic buildings and everything that rests inside.”
He then spoke about the video and the condition of Benjamin E. Mays Hall, saying:
“The clips that I posted were recorded a while back. Back then, it was in no where NEAR the condition it is in today. Unfortunately, a lot of vandals and robbers have been in the building since that time (and before i posted the reel) and they completely messed it up. Those of you worried about the individual spraying a fire extinguisher in my post should focus on the current state of the place. below l attached 2 photos that were sent to me. One shows a burnt down car sitting at the main entrance of the building and another shows all the bookshelves toppled like dominos in the library. There are more pictures of the walls spray painted with graffiti, trash left everywhere, and broken windows as well. This is truly heartbreaking and I hope that @huschoolofdivinity can access the security camera footage and find the vandals. The entire building can still be restored and repurposed. I hope that after raising awareness on this issue, proper precautions will be taken to secure the building from any further vandalism and theft.
As the university’s Department of Public Safety continued to investigate the matter, patrols have increased in the area.
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