Since October 12, students at Howard University have been protesting what they describe as “incredibly unsafe housing conditions” and other administration issues.
As one students states, this includes “rats and roaches in the cafe, students without housing and mold in the limited housing that is available.” There are also reports of leaking dorms and slow action from the administration to accommodate students when there are flooding issues.
Students have circulated video footage of their living conditions.
no housing crisis but we have mold growing EVERYWHERE?! #blackburntakeover pic.twitter.com/jCtXy9ABBf
— eve
(@eveechanel) October 15, 2021
A look at the conditions inside some of the housing at @HowardU – a student sent me this video from her dorm. She said school officials refused to relocate her. @fox5dc @TheLiveMovemen1 #BlackburnTakeover pic.twitter.com/W2qFDcLsHS
— Jacqueline Matter (@JMatter_TV) October 14, 2021As long as students are bathing with roaches and mold, they are not being kept safe. If #HowardUniversity cares, they will met our simple demands. #BlackburnTakeover pic.twitter.com/V528MtFNoU
— Afeni
| #SaveSilwan (@ReddIsAri) October 15, 2021
After seeing all the post from #BlackburnTakeover, I haveto contextualize the issues students have had at Howard because it is truly inhumane what undergraduates go through. This thread will go the history of civil disobedience and issues with the living conditions at Howard 1/ pic.twitter.com/vxbtzOZ1Bt
—
(@scorptini) October 13, 2021
To address these problems, students have organized a sit-in at the Blackburn University Center— “the social hub of Howard’s campus”— “to voice their concerns with administration to address housing issues, and the removal [of] student, faculty & alumni representation on the Board of Trustees,” says Twitter user @scorptini, who stated she’s pursuing her PhD at the university.
Protester Tia-Andrea Scott told media outlet DCist that faculty and administration were invited to address their concerns. But they didn’t show up, she says. “Instead of meeting our demands, they instead met us with police.”
The news of Howard’s housing conditions has spread, with Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., offering her support:
Students @HowardU are stepping up to ensure a humane, just university, nation and world. In a 1968 speech at Harvard, my mother emphasized the importance of student activism. Raise your housing standards, #HowardUniversity. #BlackburnTakeover @TheHilltopHU https://t.co/ysurQ0IJui
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) October 18, 2021Students started a #BlackburnTakeover hashtag and made a list of demands including: an “in-person town hall with President [Wayne] Frederick and administration scheduled before the end of October…[to ] reinstate all affiliate trustee positions (students, faculty, and alumni) on the Board of Trustees with voting power…[and that] the President and Chairman of the Board propose a meeting with student leadership outlining their “housing plan” to protect the incoming classes of Howard’s immediate future.”
I initially didn’t understand the severity of the situation at Howard, but there are reports of students coughing up blood from mold exposure and the admin is sitting on their hands. They even called the police on students who were protesting. #BlackburnTakeover #howard pic.twitter.com/Ppjr2fMFx5
— SoInsightful this is me with help (@insightful_so) October 18, 2021TOPICS: #BlackburnTakeover Howard University
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