Students at Howard University are camping out to protest the conditions of their dorms, demanding officials to renovate the student housing.
The protests began in October, when students at the historically black school complained about a number of issues with their dorms, including flooding, roach and mice infestation, and a lack of WiFi. Student activists say the school’s hesitance fixing the dorms is indicative of a widespread issue with crumbling buildings on century-old historically black college campuses, according to CNN.
“It’s active negligence to their students,” said sophomore Jasmine Joof. “They have had every opportunity to fix these dorms.”
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A petition for Howard to cancel its contract with Corvias, the corporation that maintains and operates residential buildings on campus, has gained more than 4,500 signatures. The protesting students have asked for a meeting or town hall with university officials and for them to provide a comprehensive plan to fix the building issues and be more transparent, the outlet reported.
The sit-ins organized by the students have been going on for a month, garnering the attention of lead civil rights activists, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. William Barber II, and Martin Luther King III. Jackson was on campus earlier in November to try and mediate the situation with students and the Howard administration, according to the outlet.
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Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick acknowledged the complaints about the deterioration of dorms on Nov. 5 and said the school is working to solve some of the issues, mentioning the aging state of the campus in his university address. Students say a meeting with officials has not yet happened, the outlet reported.
Howard University and Corvias have yet to respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
