(Photo: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Students from several Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Clark Atlanta, Howard, Morehouse, Morris Brown, Spelman and Tuskegee — recently reached agreements for a better quality of life, housing and leadership issues on their campuses.
The schools, except Tuskegee, held sit-in demonstrations on campus and slept in tents until a resolution was met. Howard’s housing protest ended days ago after a month of students sleeping in tents. The Atlanta University Center Consortium’s (AUC) ended after about two weeks.
The Atlanta Student Movement Takeover (ASMT), which represents the six schools in the AUC, met with Clark’s President, George T. French, about the “HBCU Student Quality of Life Agreement,” which “outlines the responsibilities of the university over the next three years.” The document concludes that the university agrees to meet their demands on student housing, financial aid, dining concerns, Title IX, and transparency and accountability.
French was the second president to meet with ASMT, but the first to commit to the proposed students’ demands.
The agreement includes exact dates that the university will complete the tasks, one of the most important demands under student housing states that the university will, “clear all maintenance requests filed since August 18, 2021. This action shall be completed no later than November 29, 2021.”
While President French is the only president in the AUC to sign the agreement, students are hopeful that the “HBCU Student Quality of Life Agreement” will serve as a template for other institutions.
Tuskegee’s band threatened to quit performing at school events to protest a lack of resources and support. Members cited a lack of funding that makes traveling performing difficult, a lack of qualified staff and insufficient communications about what’s going on with band practices and performances.
Its President, Charlotte Morris, has since worked with the band to meet the students needs, they are currently under new leadership and are still actively working on the other demands of the students.