We are unstoppable, another world is possible ✊🏾 #StudentPowerHU pic.twitter.com/V1tT7qsMtm
— #StudentPowerHU (@HUResist) April 7, 2018
It’s been a long nine days, but it’s well worth the time for student activists who led a demonstration at Howard University.
Lead organizer of HU Resist, Alexis McKenney, tells CNN, who broke the story, “This is a long time coming. Today’s a historic moment; this is the longest standing occupation of a building in Howard’s history.”
Students staged a sit-in and have occupied the Howard University administration building since March 29. They demanded a bigger voice in university decisions, among other concerns, including issues of public safety, sexual harassment and assault, mental health and grievance mechanisms.
A revelation by an outside auditor found that university employees misappropriated financial aid money from 2007 to 2016, which spurred the demonstration. According to CNN, six university employees were fired for “double-dipping” financial aid and “Some university employees were receiving grants from the school to attend classes, while also receiving tuition remission.”
Howard University president Wayne A.I. Frederick says in a statement, “The investigation found that from 2007 to 2016, University grants were given to some University employees who also received tuition remission. The audit revealed that the combination of University grants and tuition remission exceeded the total cost of attendance. As a result, some individuals received inappropriate refunds.”
Frederick congratulated the students for their resistance.
After the jump, you can read in detail how the demands were addressed:
