It was all over the news back in October. Students protested for a month back in October/November to protest the living conditions in the dorms. There are a few problems. First, that area of D.C. is heavily gentrified. My daughter and I went to visit D.C. back in July; they were the only school in the area not doing tours, and there didnât seem to be anyone on campus yet. I just so happened to latch on to a gentleman who was an alum who lived in the area. He gave us a whole tour, which was really nice. Interestingly, you could see there was construction going on on some of the dorms (he identified them as dorms), but there was nothing going on, just construction equipment.
A few days after my daughter submitted her application, reports started coming from students that there were pipes that burst, mold and mushrooms growing in the rooms and on their belongings, and roaches and rats in the dorms. At first I thought the incidences were isolated. But then the reports continued to come in (you can google âHoward University housingâ or âHoward University dormsâ and scroll down and youâll see links to articles). Roland Martin did a walk through with some students (I watched that on YouTube). They set up tents in the quad area because of the conditions of the dorms. They stayed out there for almost a month. The president of the school was not responsive (I was shocked at how he gaslit them). The students had demands. Jessie Jackson went to meet with the president of the school. Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad (who is the dean of fine arts there) had a little disagreement that was posted on who was right - the students or administration.
The administration finally came to an agreement with the students in November, but the agreement is private, so no one knows if the demands of better conditions are being met (this is also in news reports).
The problem is that Howard has had housing issues for decades. And it came to a head, because they contracted out maintenance of dorms to a private company -
a 40-year contract that started in 2016 - Howard Living Conditions Blamed On âSlumlordyâ Property Management Company (do a Google search for the company - Corvias).
Here is another link: Howard U's housing issues aren't new. They've just hit a boiling point.
There are other links - instagram posts as well.
Iâm not in the business of disparaging anyone or any school, especially an HBCU. I graduated from Clark Atlanta with my M.B.A. I desperately wanted this situation to not seem as bad as it was being portrayed. But I followed this situation every day that it was going on. And I tried to keep an open mind, because my daughter was so excited to be there, to study in the History program, to be amongst her own and to learn and grow both academically, professionally, and personally at Howard. If she didnât have to stay on campus, and if I had the funds to arrange off-campus housing (which I think itâs required to stay on campus freshman and sophomore years), she would be there. But as a parent who lives in Atlanta, thatâs too far away for me to be stressed out and worried over housing. If a student canât feel safe and remain healthy where he or she lives, it really is impossible to focus on learning.
Please forgive the length of this comment. But unfortunately, thatâs whatâs going on.
And interestingly, you canât find any updates about what has subsequently happened after they came to the confidential agreement with the students. For me (and I stress, for ME), thatâs a red flag.
And the cost of room and board is much too high to be dealing with those issues.
