Howard University condemns 'unlawful break-in' of defunct university building in viral video

WASHINGTON - Howard University has issued a response after a recent video shared on social media showed individuals breaking in to an unused school building. 

The video shows a group of individuals breaking into Benjamin E. Mays Hall, which housed Howard University's School of Divinity from 1987 to 2015. 

The video shows the individuals exploring the building, looking through old books, even finding a dry ice extinguisher which they set off. 

The video calls the school "abandoned," which Howard University says is "misinformed." The university says the School of Divinity was moved from Benjamin E. Mays Hall to the University's West Campus. High-value collections of art and archival materials made the move, but the remainder continued to be stored at Mays Hall. 

Howard University began working to redevelop East Campus in 2017, and say they recently started collaborating with the DC Preservation League to designate East Campus as a historic landmark district.

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"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," said Howard University School of Divinity Dean Rev. Kenyatta Gilbert, Ph.D.

Howard University's Department of Public Safety has begun an investigation, and will be ramping up patrols of the area.