Howard University Will Not Be Gentrified: Students Say Their New Neighbors Are Using The Campus’ Yard As A Dog Park

#HowardUniversity students are adamant about protecting the historically black university that has been in Northwest Washington D.C. for more than 150 years.

For HBCUS, the yard has much more meaning than the average college quad. The yard is the soul of the campus and symbolizes HBCU culture at its heart. So Howard University students are not taking too kindly to their “new neighbors” using the yard like a dog park, according to @dcist.

The story has made headlines, prompting local news outlets to go out and get the tea. Now one man has gone viral for an interview he did with @fox5 where he suggested that Howard should “move the campus” if they don’t want to be within D.C.

The statement by him and others who like him who share the sentiment has sparked outrage because not only does it signify that gentrification is now on Howard’s doorstep, but the bigger picture shows that this sentiment is just another way people are trying to erase Black history.

“You know this is a university. You know this is a historically black university. And you feel so entitled that you’re just going to walk your dog there?” Briana Littlejohn, a graduating senior at Howard, told DCist. “I find it very disrespectful.”

There are only a little more than 100 black colleges still around and people tend to argue their relevance today but proponents of HBCUS feel that every time one shuts down, we’re losing a piece of Black history. Even more on topic, Beyonce’s recent Netflix documentary “Homecoming” touched on the importance of HBCUs in black culture.

Even Kelly Rowland took to Instagram recently to say that she always wanted to go to an HBCU and encouraged young black students to choose HBCUS.

Most importantly, Howard is sacred to D.C. so in other words, students are asking their “neighbors” to walk Spike somewhere else because Howard ain’t it.

We’ll keep you posted on this one, Roommates.