With nearly a $50K a year tuition bill, students at Howard University are saying the “math ain’t mathing,” especially when they have been faced to carry out their school semester in “unlivable” conditions. Tensions have quickly escalated in the last week, with students staging a sit-in over housing conditions that show mold, infestation, rats, and insects, which in turn has left some students to fall sick, and others to sleep on the streets.
Cynthia Evers, the university’s vice president of student affairs, denied many of the student’s allegations in a statement. She acknowledged the mold in some areas but said it was not widespread and that maintenance crews were already in the midst of eradicating it. She also said there was no shortage of housing for students, despite numerous complaints from students on the matter. And in response to students’ demands for a meeting with administrators, Evers said school officials had met with students but “the truth is you did not like the honest answers that you received when we met,” she explained.
According to students, those demands were to hold an in-person town hall with the university’s president and administration before the end of October. Students also want all affiliate trustee positions to be reinstated to the Board of Trustees with voting power so that students will have a voice in major decisions concerning the school. Students also want university officials to put in place a housing plan for future students. Instead of the town hall meeting, it is said that students were met with officers instead of administrators, and those officers tried to remove students from the area of the Blackburn student center on campus.
From large donations from many alumni to continuing with this year’s homecoming, Howard seems to be turning a blind eye to what many students say is “really horrible” living conditions, with some students threatening legal actions.
