The protests come amid news that university employees misappropriated financial aid funds for needy students. (Photo by Charles Garrett/@garrett24fps)
Howard University students remained unmoved Monday as they entered day six of their takeover of a campus administration building in response to revelations that HU workers misappropriated financial aid money.
Students occupying the building have refused to leave until all nine of their demands are met, according to Black America Web. Some of the requests include the ouster of university President Wayne A.I. Frederick, along with demands to end unsubstantiated tuition hikes and better efforts at fighting rape culture and campus sexual assault.
So far, only one of the demands has been met, however. On March 31, the university’s Board of Trustees agreed to protesters’ first demand to “provide adequate housing for all students under the age of 21 and extend the fall 2018 housing deposit deadline to May 1,” Alexis McKenney, an HU student and leader of activist group HU Resist, told the news site.
In the words of Frederick Douglass, "power concedes nothing without a demand." These are our demands. #StudentPowerHU pic.twitter.com/pnFOefF2KM
— HU Resist (@HUResist) March 26, 2018
“We’re prepared to occupy the administration building until we’re more than satisfied that our demands have been met,” the group wrote in a press release. “…The actions we have taken are only the first steps in attaining a liberated HBCU … we are prepared to continue to negotiate with administration on the terms of our demands.”
VP of student affairs Kenneth Holmes sent an email blast to students confirming that the university would extend its deadline to put down a payment for on-campus housing. He said the school would delay renovations to the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle, better known as “The Quad,” if a large amount of students requested housing.
“Our students are our priority, and we look forward to supporting them in their holistic Howard University experience,” Holmes said in a statement.
The student protests come amid fallout from Frederick’s damning confirmation that six financial aid employees were fired last year for misappropriating university-based grants and keeping the cash for themselves. An internal investigation founds that from 2007 to 2016, several HU employees received grants on top of the discounts they were already receiving on their tuition.
The scandal wasn’t made public until last month, however, thanks to an anonymous blog post published on Medium. The post has since been deleted.
It’s still unclear how much money was embezzled from the department.
Check out photos from the #StudentPowerHU occupation below:
We thought the building could use a renaming #StudentPowerHU #KwameTureStudentCenter pic.twitter.com/E0exCczwCj
— Free Imam Jamil Al-Amin (@smilectics) April 2, 2018
Yesterday, we continued our Food Pantry and donated some of our excess food to homeless members of the community. We managed to feed about 500 people! #StudentPowerHU pic.twitter.com/HirVF18MEQ
— HU Resist (@HUResist) April 2, 2018
Howard University still Resisting! Only things allowed in the A Building are students and food! #huresist @HUResist #studentpowerHU #HowardUniversity #HowardU pic.twitter.com/gtcTYzDZzE
— D.Garrett Photography (@garrett24fps) March 30, 2018
So proud to be apart of this historical demonstration.. #StudentPowerHU pic.twitter.com/ZqvxgDB10I
— Jahnova the Rebel (@jahnovaa) March 30, 2018
