1,000 signatures reached
To: 17th President of Howard University Wayne A. I. Frederick
Create a Student-led Oversight Committee on White House Funding
Howard University's student body at-large are the very people Trump and his administration actively oppress. We are demanding that President Wayne A. I. Frederick create a student-led oversight committee to review, make recommendations, and influence how funds from the Trump administration should be used.
All administrations fund HBCU's but with Trump's Executive Order signed today oversight of federal funding has been moved from the Department of Education to his office. This offers little oversight on how the funding will be managed and this is why we believe that students must have influence over how and where that money is allocated within the university. That's why it's necessary to create a student-led advisory committee: we have to put ALL stakeholders in charge of funding distribution, that includes students! And when funding comes from a divisive source, it's important that these stakeholders have a transparent understanding of how they will be affected and have decision-making power to create institutional change.
Why is this important?
+++ FACT: TRUMP IS USING HBCUs FOR HIS OWN SELF-INTEREST+++
On Monday, HBCU Presidents, including Howard University President Wayne Frederick met with Donald Trump. And this evening Trump issued an Executive Order in regards to HBCU's, pledging to support Black colleges and universities.
GOP presidents have often cozied up to HBCU leaders in order to eschew accusations of anti-Blackness. After running a campaign demonizing Black people, Trump will do whatever he can to bring these respected Black leaders to his side. Trump does not care about Black people; he cares about his reputation and what he can demand of HBCUs once he's cozied up to them.
+++ FACT: A STUDENT-LED COMMITTEE IS NECESSARY+++
Students are the biggest stakeholders! They are directly impacted by the funding and the stipulations attached. Consequently, they should have influence over how and where that money is allocated. That's why it's necessary to create a student-led advisory committee: we have to put ALL stakeholders in charge of funding distribution, that includes students! And when funding comes from a divisive source, it's important that these stakeholders have a transparent understanding of how they will be affected and have decision-making power to create institutional change.
+++ FACT: DONALD TRUMP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE +++
Just this week, Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough said of the HBCU presidents' meeting with Trump: "there was very little listening to HBCU presidents today - we were only given about 2 minutes each, and that was cut to one minute."
Donald Trump spent his entire presidential campaign telling the world his plans to make Black people a permanent underclass. As the world watched, Trump demanded that his racist supporters beat and throw Black and Muslim attendees out of his rallies. These brutal assaults on peaceful protesters, which resembled mob lynchings, rocked the nation and contributed to the increase in white supremacist groups in the US, as well as hate crimes carried out on so many schools and universities throughout the country.
From the day he stepped into the White House, Trump has wasted no time putting that plan into action. He's issued one disastrous executive order after another, and has appointed some of the most racist people to some of the highest and most exclusive positions in his administration.
Trump barged into the White House and tore down the Affordable Care Act and banned immigrants from entering the country. It's impossible to walk around any HBCU campus and not meet one student who's ineligible for dozens of resources, including healthcare, because of financial hardship or immigration status. It's particularly impossible at Howard, one of the most diverse HBCUs in the country.
+++ FACT: THESE ARE TRUMP'S FRIENDS. IS PRESIDENT FREDERICK ONE OF THEM??? +++
It's pretty clear that anyone close to Trump is bad news for the people they purport to serve. Trump’s reputation is severely tattered, and his political agenda is divisive. That's why accepting money from him is wrong; it's a sign of partnership, like-mindedness and allegiance. Trump's values don't the align with the values of Howard University at all.
And we certainly expect that Trump's value's don't align with President Frederick's either.
- Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education) plans to gut public schools and essentially under-educate Black and Brown children.
-Jeff Sessions (Attorney General) is bent on weakening the Department of Justice's powers that often protect Black and Brown communities for police corruption .
- Neil Gorsuch (US Supreme Court nominee) pledges to condemn universal healthcare, uphold Trump's order to defund Planned Parenthood, and support militarized police occupation of Black and Brown neighborhoods.
- David Duke (Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard) stood with Donald Trump on the campaign trail and funded his campaign.