The Lincoln Gates, the main entrance to Tuskegee University, was a sign of safety and home during my college years. From the first time I arrived on campus in 2012, Tuskegee felt like a welcoming space.

Today, for the first time, these doors are closed to the public.

Hours after the best “homecoming” experience I’ve had, celebrating the school’s 100th homecoming, the school became famous not for this milestone but for a shooting.

A mass shooting. One person died and 16 people were injured.

“I was in the middle of the shooting and my friends and I ran and hid behind the dumpster. Then we ran to Campbell Hall to hide. I’m still recovering from seeing the covered body of the man who was killed. I’m still processing that it could have been me,” said Evyn Thompson, a 2024 graduate.

I finished my homecoming festivities around 1:15 a.m. on November 10 by leaving another party on campus. I stopped at a nearby food stand and as I waited for my meal, I saw several police cars rushing towards the campus.

I didn’t know about the shooting until I was getting ready to sleep at an AirBnB in Montgomery. My heart broke when I heard the news. I immediately called my brother and texted all my friends to make sure they were okay.

Fortunately, they were. But Tuskegee has changed.

Homecoming at HBCUs isn’t limited to the football game, tailgates, and parties. It’s the place where alumni from across the country can come “home,” not only to celebrate the place that helped define their lives, but also to celebrate institutional sustainability in a country that barred black people from ‘learn to read to now see. Black history is removed from the school curriculum.

At Tuskegee, we celebrate Homecoming with a tremendous sense of school pride. Almost everyone is wearing their most fashionable outfits in the school colors of crimson red and old gold. Cell phone service drops as soon as we enter campus because thousands of people are packed into the football stadium, and yet we still meet up to share drinks, food, and photos. We reconnect with people we haven’t seen since our last class session together or, if we’re lucky enough, we meet other former students who turn into new lifelong friendships.

A shooting certainly isn’t the first time Tuskegee has been the subject of national discussion. Tuskegee University gave the world the Red Tails, the first black aviators to fight in World War II. The university has been recognized as National Historic Site in 1974. Two decades later, President Bill Clinton would issue a formal apology for the federal government’s involvement in its role in the syphilis study experiment that lasted nearly 40 years and provided the university with the Bioethics Research Building. The university has also spawned nationally recognized talents like Lionel Richie and Tom Joyner. And these historical facts still only scratch the surface of what Tuskegee brought to the world.

The university even celebrated the fact that the football stadium is finally lit. Something that was a joke about Tuskegee among HBCUs for decades, but something the alumni defended tirelessly. Supreme Court Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson recently visited the school, as that’s where her mother graduated. And Senator Katie Britt just got over $5 million for the university’s aviation and aerodynamic technology program. Not to mention it was recently ranked among the best schools in Alabama and the United States.

But it was a mass shooting that made headlines at Tuskegee last month. The remains of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver lie just 200 yards from where the bullets tore through the parking lot of the West Commons Apartments.

“There were at least 500 people there,” Tuskegee sophomore Janiah Rutledge said of the nighttime party where the shooting took place. “When I got there I was in the middle of the crowd, but then I moved to the back because I didn’t feel comfortable. I felt like something was going to happen.

Rutledge says there were a lot of unfamiliar faces at the party.

“I was getting warning signs all night, but I didn’t want to leave my friends. There were a lot of unrecognizable faces, that’s what made me the most nervous,” she said.

A public meeting was held with students and university administration on November 11.

During the meeting, according to a video reviewed by AL.com, student Marquez Cowins said, “Our voices are going to be heard. The fact is, we just want immediate change, now. If you can’t give us change immediately, send it back to us.

HBCUs across the country have recently reported violent threats and security incidents. In 2023, a shooting occurred in Tuskegee. No one was injured or killed.

Some students felt like the university should have implemented better security measures then.

“A lot of people feel like Tuskegee never wants to change anything and doesn’t listen to their students. That’s the main thing people are feeling right now, and that’s that we’re going to have to continue to fight the administration to get change,” Rutledge said.

On November 14, the private university held a press conference regarding new security measures such as closing the campus to the public, hiring additional officers for 24/7 security, installing metal detectors, and adding 500 cameras around the campus grounds. university.

“The whole campus will be lit,” said Mark Brown, who became Tuskegee’s 10th president in July.

At the press conference, I asked Tuskegee’s communications director about the previous safety protocol for “unsanctioned” parties on campus. I did not receive a response.

The crowd inside the stadium for the reunion and the game was filled with tens of thousands of people. For me, there were more people than usual.

Brown said he made a video to clearly state the university’s clear bag security policy and prohibitions against drugs and weapons on campus. He said there were entry checks at all officially sponsored events, some random and some 100%.

“However, the general campus remained open and we did not, and we could not have anticipated security at an event that had not been approved in advance or officially sanctioned by the university,” Brown said.

Students returned to campus on November 18 with a very strong police and security presence.

On November 19, the family of La’Tavion Johnson, who died in the shooting, continued universityclaiming that authorities had not properly secured the campus.

Thompson said the shooting left her traumatized.

“They make it seem like it’s the students’ fault that they’re having a party.” When we could still party and be safe. Because we had a lot of parties and nothing happened. So why is there a mass shooting now? But it’s our fault the shooting happened,” Thompson asked.

Although she feels her mental health has declined, she said she still loves Tuskegee, despite the tragedy that took place on campus.

“I don’t hate my school. I love my school no matter what happened. I know Tuskegee isn’t a bad place. It’s just things happening there,” Thompson said.

Cody D. Short is a 2015 graduate of Tuskegee University. She is a journalist for AL.com.