Raleigh, NC – The Carolinian received an anonymous tip that “Urban Explorers” are breaching security to trespass on Saint Augustine’s University, which is already grappling with a fragile financial recovery and a complex federal bankruptcy process. Saint Augustine’s University (SAU) is now facing a new threat after dark. Self-styled “urban explorers” and internet video creators are infiltrating the historic campus, documenting their trespassing on social media while leaving behind thousands of dollars in property damage.
The trend has transformed the campus, a historic cornerstone of Black higher education in North Carolina, into a playground for digital clout-chasers. For the staff and caretakers fighting to preserve the university’s physical and academic integrity, the nightly intrusions are a worsening nightmare.
According to local sources, these trespassers are highly organized. They operate using a coordinated, multi-stage scouting system designed to bypass police and campus security. A campus source, who requested anonymity, detailed how these groups coordinate their entries: “Groups go around… they just go in there, shoot videos, take pictures, whatever. What they do is they have a scout. The scout will come through, look over, and say, ‘Nobody over there,’ and that’s where they enter. They bust windows, set fires, whatever they want to do.” Footage of the empty, historic campus corridors is routinely uploaded to social media platforms under the guise of “exploring abandoned spaces,” ignoring the fact that SAU is a protected, historically black university under active restructuring…