Howard University students, who haven’t been treated with the dignity and respect they rightfully deserve, are holding their president and administration to account.
Dating back to at least 1968 and the #HuResist sit-in, the #BlackburnTakeover is part of a long tradition of sit-ins on the campus of Howard University. In the present, Howard students have been attempting to make contact with an obtuse and obstinate president and administration, with protestors living in tents no less while doing it.
“We will not bend, we will not fold until we get what we deserve,” said Aniyah Vines, a Howard University senior and leader in this movement, to The Hilltop, Howard University’s student newspaper.
Though bearing witness to it is soul-crushing, #BlackburnTakeover is sending a message: “We want to see Howard grow and flourish, but take care of every student that walks across the Yard.” Something had to be done, and Howard students are doing just that. For that, they are commended.
“It’s time to take power into our own hands and demand that our administration listen to our grievances for not only ourselves, but for future Bison,” one student told Refinery29.
Their demands are three-fold: one, “an in person town-hall with Howard University President Dr. Wayne Frederick;” two, “the reinstatement of student, alumni and faculty trustee positions which were eliminated last year” and three, “a meeting to propose a housing plan to protect future incoming classes.”
Taken together, what Howard students are demanding is simple: fairness and transparency. A voice. A seat at the table. All things which are sorely needed not just at Howard but elsewhere too— including LSU.
Remember, what is happening is not surprising. Time and again, whether shafting students on housing and representation or hiding sexual harassment and allegations of rape (hello, LSU)—this is the chicanery we have to deal with from administrations who really think they can swindle us.
They can’t. Not today.
We have our obvious differences with Howard University. Neither our histories nor our struggles are entirely the same. Howard is, in fact, an HBCU and we are, in fact, an HWCU. Alas, some patterns are the same, and students the nationwide can learn from the #BlackburnTakeover. In the words of Teddy Pendergrass, “Wake up, everybody.”
“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it,” once said author Zora Neale Hurston.
Stand with #BlackburnTakeover.
Joshua Jordan is a media and public affairs graduate student at LSU.