Yvette Chambliss
Rebecca Weaver
Section 304 English 1102
21 April 2022
What can colleges do to better Accommodate to student living
Historically Black Colleges and Universities are now one of the most growing private schools in American. These colleges hold so many triumphs of historically African Americans who have made an impact on the world today who have contributed back to the Hbcus in so many ways by funding, holding fantastic events where African American students can come together and enjoy themselves as one. Unfortunately HBCUS are fairly looked down upon just for being an all Black college and University where the expenses are not properly funded to one of the most important issues till this day with HBCUS dormitories, so what can HBCUS do better to accommodate student living.
Renovation issues with dormitory and the poor environments
Howard university was founded in 1867 and is still standing in 2022, now that’s a very long time. The dormitories probably went through a couple of renovations here and there throughout the year, but this wasn’t enough to sufficiently place students in these dormitories to live in for at least a year or the rest of these students four- year of college experience. In the article “ Howard University students reach an agreement with officials after a month of protest” Jonathan Franklin states “Since the start of the fall semester, students say they’ve raised concerns to campus administrators regarding mold in the walls of their dorms, the lack of COVID-19 testing for students and the overall safety on campus, according to DCist/WAMU” (Jonthan franklin par. 10). where students started to notice mold growing on walls and their belongings where students could not continue to stay in these hostile environments. Students who literally forced to move out of their dorm because of how life threatening it would be for them to even be in a literal toxic environment, as Jonathan claims “ Frederick stated that mold was discovered in 41 out of 2,700 rooms on campus, with some of the damage being the result of “accidental human error.” ( Jonathan para.11). Students that felt as if the administration were not quick to initiate the problem would just get worse.
A month later in Atlanta, Georgia, Spelman University an all African American women’s university, Clark Atlanta University, and Morehouse University an all black African American university all very Popular HBCUs who are experiencing some of the same conceptions and issues as Howard university. In the article “Atlanta HBCU Students Demand Better Housing Conditions, More Funding” Valencia Jones states “They say there’s been mold and leaking pipes, particularly at Clark Atlanta”(Valencia para.3) the minor things that these HBCUS could have fixed these maintenance issues that have resulted in major issues that now has caused an outbreak of rage for student.” Tuesday marked the second day of protests near the Atlanta University Center. “The dorms that we do have, many of them have things such as mold. I personally have a friend who had a dryer fire in her dorm,” said Marcellus Kirkland, a Morehouse student and protest organizer.”(Valencia para.2) As Black African American students who had to deal with these hostile environments that not just affect them physically but mentally. Not knowing if they would be allowed to have anywhere permit to stay while still attending school, when it felt as if these students who worked so hard to get accepted into these schools.
HBCU Protesting Movement
Picture taken by ABC News story by Briana Stewart (students protesting by sleeping in tents outside buildings on campus about housing issues)
The only way that these Howard University students could get their Universities attention was to have a mass protest that started at Howard for a month where students would camp outside of the buildings. In the article “Black leaders rally around Howard University students protesting poor living conditions on campus” Nicquel Terry Ellis and Jennifer Henderson claim” Students at the historically Black college in Washington, DC, have been assembling for sit-ins at the school’s Blackburn University Center with tents, air mattresses and sleeping bags, demanding that Howard leadership address their concerns. The sit-in, which has been dubbed #BlackburnTakeover on social media, started on October 12.”( Ellis and Henderson para 1). This protest turned into a movement from different parts of the country that affected other HBCUS that are experiencing the same problems as Howard University, where they also participated in the protest. In the article “ Howard University Students Stage Sit-In Over Issues With Mold And COVID Safety” Domonique Mari Bonessi and Dee Dwyer claim “Students with the group Live Movement a coalition of students from historically Black colleges and universities who advocate for education reform, began their sit-in at the Blackburn University Center” (Bonessi and Dwyer para 1). The entire issue was that every HBCU had almost similar issues to other HBCUS when it came to the Colleges and Universities housing situations.
HBCU Funding
HBCUS are private schools where the majority of the student body applies for scholarships or that they either receive to go toward funding of these schools and then to have a prolonged education. Students tend to pay more than a regular university by at least 20 thousand more. Especially if not in state it’s much cheaper but going to a private university requires a lot more money. In the article “Atlanta HBCU Students Demand Better Housing Conditions, More Funding” Valencia Jones states “Students are also protesting high student loan debt and blaming the Biden Administration for cutting proposed federal education funding from $45 billion to $2 billion, which is a major blow to HBCUs.” ( Valencia para.3). Majority of these students are paying immaculate amounts of money to attend these schools where they can’t keep up with housing and maintenance issues for students to stay and fulfill these poor environments . This is clear that African Americans are not taken care of properly especially financially. Even though there have been large donations that have been given to these colleges and universities by alumni who all attended Howard University like Taraji Henson, Kamala Harris, and Chadwick Boseman who have had a great impact on this school from holding speeches to their greatly impacted donations that went toward these maintenance issues.
As some who don’t know, you can donate to HBCUS across America. That would make a difference of the 75% of African American students who attend these Colleges and Universities that need financial assistance. This foundation is called “The HBCU Foundation Giving to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities” anything could help that can go toward students’ books, other important school supplies, clubs, any part of these HBCUS students’ lives that need assistance.
Conclusion
HBCUS are still one of the most proud landmarks of African American history that make up who Black Africans Americans are today. It’s disappointing to see what our ancestors worked so hard for, that as a community we have not taken care to progress in education; for students to have a healthy work environment. Just to do what we were doing years prior, protesting for our voices to be heard.
Works Cited
Jonthan Franklin “ Howard University students reach an agreement with officials after a month of protest” ( paragraph 10-11)
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/15/1055929172/howard-university-students-end-protest-housing-agreement
Valencia Jones “Atlanta HBCU Students Demand Better Housing Conditions, More Funding” ( paragraph 2-3)
Nicquel Terry Ellis and Jennifer Henderson, CNN “Black leaders rally around Howard University students protesting poor living conditions on campus”
( paragraph 1)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/us/howard-university-living-conditions/index.html
Domonique Mari Bonessi and Dee Dwyer “ Howard University Students Stage Sit-In Over Issues With Mold And COVID Safety” ( paragraph 1)
https://dcist.com/story/21/10/13/howard-university-sit-in-blackburn/