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Howard in the Headlines

Howard University has been receiving a lot of media attention in the last year.

By Tia Lowe, Howard University News Service

After the recent screening of the film “Us” at Howard University on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, students attending other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) took to Twitter to voice their opinions on the frequent attention that Howard University is receiving in the media.

The uproar stemmed from user @AstroLenses quoting a tweet that said, “Unpopular Opinion: HBCU Edition.” Above the tweet, he wrote, “Howard is over-represented in films and in the industry and I feel like it takes away from the importance or significance of other HBCUs…” The tweet gained mass attention over the span of a week. Some people agreed with the tweet, others (mainly Howard students) had a rebuttal for the “unpopular opinion”.

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public HBCU that is located roughly three miles away from Howard’s main campus. When asked about the recent tweet, a sophomore at UDC Tim Magruder said exposure determines a school’s visibility.

“The attention a school gets depends on the school. Howard always has a public influence. Schools like UDC don’t really promote themselves.”

The Twitter war seemed to be one-sided (how was it one-sided?), but another UDC student felt the same way as Magruder.

“The attention schools get depends on the students and alumni, said Andrew Hetmyer, a sophomore at UDC.

Magruder also believes that student pride might be impacted because of this.

“Students might be ashamed of their universities because they aren’t getting as much attention as Howard,” said Tim Magruder. Both students agreed that most of the attention Howard gains is a result of its alumni.(this is where you give your readers some background information about Howard’s alumni. Earlier, you should also talk about other instances where Howard has been represented in popular culture)

A similar response came from @_AmenSis_, the user tweeted “Should [the] other HBCU’s be represented more? Yes. It doesn’t mean that Howard is over-represented though.

There is no denying that it has been a big year for Howard in the media, and upperclassmen student at UDC, Rondenise Pake believes, “Howard shouldn’t dim its light to let others shine.”

“Howard isn’t doing anything wrong by doing something right, if you get what I’m saying,” said Pake.