Still outraged by the revelation of the alleged theft of financial aid at Howard University, students and members of #HUResist occupied the Administration building on campus to protest.
Members of #HUResist led the rally, expressing outrage about the staff that was allegedly responsible for writing themselves checks instead of assisting and awarding many of the students in need of aid.
“Today, we were just trying to make a statement and we were really hoping that more people would care. This was a really big deal. Howard trended #1, Tyrone was trending #1 and we got that impact. I really want people to start thinking about more than just themselves and their situations because if we really want change we have to show that we’re all mad, not just one,” a member of #HUResist, Genesis Bates said.
Hundreds of students scattered throughout the first floor of the building, with the president and vice president of Howard University Student Association (HUSA), Jade Agudosi and Quentin Mansfield lending support to the students.
“I told myself in 50 years I don't want to look back and say, Oh I knew students were occupying the A building, I knew there were a lot of things going on within the cause and reason to why they are there and I didn’t find myself in that space to do anything. That’s the important part about what the Howard student is. We stand here and we stand for a cause,” Agudosi said.
Mansfield continued, “The lack of transparency has persisted for far too long. With this current situation coming to light, I’m truly disgusted. I’m disgusted to know that students were in need and that need wasn’t considered by the people who work in this very building. To know that despite that we have a president who spent 15 minutes of our meeting berating students for their inability to pay tuition when he had this information and knew there was aid for them and wasn’t given to them, my heart aches.”