Black politicians are stepping in to support Howard students staging a sit-in over housing conditions

• Black politicans showed support for Howard students' sit-in for board voting power and housing.
• Last week, civil rights icon Jesse Jackson was hospitalized after speaking with students on campus.

Black local and national politicians have flocked to the aid of hundreds of Howard University students conducting a sit-in over moldy and dilapidated dorms and a removal of student and faculty voting representation on the Board of Trustees.

The University announced Tuesday that it has added three committee positions designated for faculty and student members. However, these positions do not have voting power.

Critics, including the newly-formed Howard Alumni United, have since responded that the gesture is designed to distract from the board previously eliminating seats that would allow voting representation for these groups.

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Newark mayor and Howard alumnus, Ras Baraka, offered his support, hosting a meeting on November 1st for alumni and friends of the university share details on the needs of students.

Baraka is just one of many politicians and national public figures to visit Howard University students staging a sit-in at the Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley and Cori Bush along with Congressman Jamaal Bowman headed down to what is commonly referred to as "The Mecca" pledging solidarity over their fight for adequate housing.

Martin Luther King III posted to Twitter how proud he was of students as they peacefully protested their concerns.

"I am both disappointed to hear the concerns of students at Howard University & proud of them for their bravery throughout this peaceful sit-in," he wrote."Historically, students & young people have been the life force of many movements, including ones led by my father."

Civil Rights icon was expecting to meet with Howard University president before fall

Reverend Jesse Jackson was hospitalized ​​Monday after the 80-year-old civil rights icon hit his head in a fall during a campus visit. He was kept overnight at the Howard University Hospital for observation.

This is the third time he has been hospitalized this year. The former presidential candidate has Parkinson's disease, and was hospitalized in February for gallbladder surgery. In August he was hospitalized along with his wife, Jacqueline for COVID-19.

Jackson had travelled to Howard's campus in DC to meet with university president Wayne A.I Frederick, over the weeks-long sit-in being held by students.

Last month, Jackson met with students living inside the Blackburn University Center -- where the sit-in is taking place -- and outside in tents offering encouragement and support for their efforts to push for change.

Howard student sit-in has been going on for three weeks

Current Howard students began their sit-in on October 12th after they say the University president, Wayne A.I. Frederick, did not show up to a student town hall. At that town hall students were anticipating discussing issues including dorms and a lack of collaborative governance between faculty, students, and administrators.

Over the last few weeks, students have used Twitter and TikTok to show outsiders what their living conditions look like under the hashtag #BlackburnTakeover.

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Many videos online showed moldy walls and clothing, along with busted and exposed pipes, rats and roaches. Some students have also claimed that they had to be hospitalized because of symptoms from the mold exposure.

Students from other HBCUs have expressed support for Howard by staging their own demonstrations about insufficient housing and Federal funding.

Students attending Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morris Brown College have all carried out separate protests on their campuses.

Spelman College President Mary Schmit Campbell said in a statement to Atlanta CBS affiliate "the Atlanta University Center Consortium] recognize[s] the multiple challenges our students faced this year. These challenges included the need for financial aid, including housing and transportation assistance."

Howard's president says the students' sit-in 'must end'

As a result of the sit-in impeding access to the school cafe, Howard announced on Twitter Tuesday that it has laid off some food service staff.

Many social media users have tied the situation at Howard and other HBCUs to a larger issue of the underfunding of historically Black institutions.

Harvard University received $9 million dollars in the Cares Act last year. In that same bill all 107 HBCUs had to share $1 billion.

Harvard's endowment is $53.2 billion while Howard's is $712.4 million.

In the Build Back Better bill making its way through congress, HBCUs were slated to receive $45 billion. It has now been cut down to $2 billion.

Protesters say they will continue until student demands are met

Howard has continued to refute the claims by students about their living conditions and Frederick said in a statement on October 27th that the weeks-long protest in the Blackburn University Center "must end."

"There may be areas where we agree to disagree. That's the nature of a vibrant community. However, Howard University's proud tradition of student protest has never been - and can never be - invoked as a justification for tactics that harm our students," he wrote to the school community.

Howard students have continued to say via social media they will carry on their sit-in until their demands are met.