A Howard University student-led protest over housing conditions and a lack of representation on the school’s board of trustees has entered a second day.
Students entered the Blackburn University Center on the school’s Northwest D.C. campus around lunchtime Tuesday and are refusing to leave until school administrators address demands for an in-person town hall with Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick, the reinstating of affiliate trustee positions with voting power and a meeting with student leadership on future housing plans.
Several issues are leaving students frustrated, including “the housing crisis we’re currently going through, tuition (and) corona preparedness,” according to one student in the ongoing sit-in, who requested anonymity fearing punishment from school officials.
When a WTOP reporter showed up on campus, police ordered them to leave. But early Wednesday, the demonstration was peaceful, with students occupying the hallway in a quiet manner while three campus officers gathered in the building’s entranceway.
People leaving the demonstration were not being allowed back in.
“President Frederick, I would just like to ask for you to hear us, hear our voices, respect our opinions,” the student said, adding school leaders should not be surprised it came to this.
“We have frequently voiced our displeasure. We have frequently asked for our voices to be heard. This is the culmination of the frustration of the unheard.”
School leaders have not yet commented about the ongoing demonstration.
