By Zoe Cummings
Howard University News Service
Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were rarely mentioned with the same awe as Ivy League or large state schools.
Despite this, I knew an HBCU– more specifically, Howard University– was always the right choice for me.
There is a video of the moment I received my acceptance to Howard.
I was at the kitchen table with my mother and father. All of us were dressed in Howard gear when my dad began to record with his phone.
“Fifth generation, y’all. We really do this,” he said to the camera.
Since that moment, we’ve talked about the significance of our family’s history at Howard, especially with the recent attention brought to HBCUs by Howard alumna Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic run for president.
“Harris represents the best of us,” my dad said, “but she is one in a long line of people who have come from Howard. I don’t take for granted that our family has been a part of that legacy, and neither should you.”
The first member of my family to attend Howard was my great-great-great-grandfather Roland Bradley I.
Roland was an accounting student in the early 20th century– an era when most Black families were still fighting against Jim Crow laws.
He set a precedent of academic excellence and ensured that while he was the first, he certainly wasn’t the last.
Five generations later, I’m here– walking the same grounds, sitting in the same classrooms– as a junior at Howard, pursuing a degree in journalism and carrying forward a legacy that’s been a century in the making.
My great-great-uncle Roland II, who attended Howard a generation after Roland I, inherited both his father’s name and his Howard legacy.
My grandmother, Joan Payne, began a new legacy as the first to attend Howard’s School of Communications in 1968.
She got her degree in speech pathology and pledged to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. 15 years before Harris. She is hailed as a professor emeritus for her 20 years of service teaching at the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.
My father, Theodore “Teddy” Payne Cummings, walked the halls of the engineering building in 1989. A multifaceted man and always the life of the party, my father also worked as an editor for the Hilltop newspaper, pledged Alpha Phi Alpha, and became a lawyer and author.
My family’s legacy is intertwined with Howard’s history and now my story is being built alongside a Howard alumna making history in a race for the nation’s highest office.
People are paying more attention to HBCUs now than ever.
Harris is the latest example of the excellence that HBCUs nurture.
She said her drive, passion and resilience were born at Howard University, and today, she’s proving that excellence to the world.
In recent years, Howard has seen record admission numbers, with the class of 2028 being named the largest in history, with 2,500 students selected from 37,000 applicants.
The repeal of affirmative action and the racial unrest of the George Floyd era have Black students around the country looking for a safe place to gain their education.
In 2024, Forbes Magazine declared Howard the No. 1 HBCU.
This attention, recognition, and scrutiny is no surprise to us, even as the rest of the world catches up to the resilience that HBCUs have nurtured for generations.
Harris’ legacy and my family’s legacy are intricately woven into the story of Howard.
As HBCUs surge into the spotlight, the rest of the nation is finally seeing what we’ve always known—that we are unstoppable.
Zoe Cummings is an HU News Service reporter.
