“History for Sale: What Happens When an HBCU Chooses Profit Over People”

Howard University, “The Mecca,” is supposed to be the intellectual and cultural stronghold of Black excellence. It was founded post-Civil War to educate the formerly enslaved and their descendants. But somewhere along the way, the mission shifted; from liberation to luxury, from access to aspiration, and from community to capital.

Today, in the 2025-26 academic year, students are staring down at a $64,142 price sticker to attend a school founded to serve those who were never meant to have wealth. Meanwhile, GoFundMe’s litter social media, and students quietly drop out, choosing rent and food over diploma. Is this really what “truth and service” looks like?

Howard is increasingly functioning like the institution it was created in defiance of: charging Ivy-League-level-tuition, prioritizing aesthetics over access, and operating behind closed doors while limiting student power. It markets itself as a beacon of progress, while structurally reflecting the same white supremacist framework it claims to dismantle.

This year alone, Howard students are seeing:

• 7.5% increase in base undergraduate tuition
• 19% jump in the Student Activity Fee
• 33% increase in the Technology Fee
• $175 new Transportation Fee per semester
• 150% rise in the housing deposit ($200 to 500 is a nasty increase)
• 11% hike in on-campus housing costs

They want to increase housing costs I better not see not naur bug, insect, rodent, discoloration, mold, nothing. And it better be newly renovated. These hikes come without any meaningful student consultation, and while the administration spins it as “still affordable,” the reality is that many students; especially first-gen and low-income students; are drowning. For them, this isn’t just a price increase; it’s a targeted form of academic eviction.

Call it what it is: class warfare in collegiate form.

After the 2021 #BlackburnTakeover, Howard pledged reforms. Students had occupied the Blackburn Center for over 30 days, protesting dangerous housing conditions like mold, flooding, and rodents. In response, the university issued a $300 million tax-exempt bond, promising new dorms and vendor accountability.

But it’s 2025, and reports of mold, slow repairs, and leaks are still coming in. Students are still sharing rooms in overcrowded residence halls or being pushed off-campus into overpriced D.C. apartments. Meanwhile, the flashy construction projects (like the new mixed-use Lowe building) feel more targeted towards visitors and corporate partners than the students who live there.

You can’t just slap glass windows on a broken system and call it innovation.

The Mecca or The Monopoly?

Howard was built to serve the descendants of enslaved people, yet its financial model mirrors predatory systems rooted in white supremacy: privatization of essential services (housing, food), and austerity politics disguised as budgeting, and governance without democratic input.

When a Black university begins to behave like a white institution; denying access, ignoring the poor, and chasing prestige over justice; it reinforces the very hierarchy it claims to fight.

Sure, the students are Black. The faculty may be Black. But the structure? That’s neoliberalism in a dashiki.

Let’s not forget the decorative gestures:

• A “Student Advisory Council” with no voting power on the Board of Trustees.
• Promises of better financial aid with no plan to cancel past-due balances.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion emails while food insecurity and homelessness spread through the student body.

It’s giving performative. It’s giving PR. It’s giving “we hear you” with a “now please pay us $30,000” in fine print.

Howard wants to speak the language of the oppressed while operating like the oppressor.

Here’s What We, The Students, Are Asking From Howard

This isn’t complicated. Students aren’t asking for private jets or luxury lounges. They want equity. Here’s what they’re demanding:

• Full forgiveness of all student balances from the 2024-25 academic year, especially for students affected by housing, food insecurity, or financial aid delays.
• A complete freeze on tuition and fee increases until basic living conditions are guaranteed for all students.
• Public audits of how tuition money, bond funds, and donor gifts are spent; no more black-box budgets.
• Voting student seats on the Board of Trustees, not just advisory panels that get ignored.
• Free or discounted housing for students on Pell Grants or with document hardship.
• Return of laundry access, meal plan rollover, and printing credits; stop nickel-and-diming students for existing on campus.
• Mental health and emergency funds for students in crisis, without bureaucratic delays.

These aren’t radical demands. They’re basic asks from students who just want to survive college and graduate without carrying five figures of debt and trauma.

Howard has a choice. It can either return to its radical roots; serving the underserved, protecting its community, and fighting systemic oppression; or it can keep climbing the elitist ladder, where it’ll eventually lose touch with the very people who made it The Mecca.

The university loves quoting James Baldwin and Zoe Neale Hurston on Instagram. But would Baldwin have paid $64k to live with mold and be ignored? Would Hurston have had a crowdfund tuition on TikTok?

If Howard continues down this path, it won’t be just classist; it’ll be complicit.

I’m Just About Done (Y’all probably like damn this nigga always complaining)

To be clear: students aren’t angry because they hate Howard. They’re angry because they love it; and know it can do better. What hurts is not just the price tag, but the betrayal

And let’s be real; if Howard’s motto is “Truth and Service,” then it’s time to tell the truth and start serving.

Because right now? The math isn’t mathing, the mission isn’t missionial, and the revolution sure as hell isn’t being funded.