PWI

“It’s the mecca,” Desiree Parker, a current sophomore, says of life at Howard University. We are catching up over the phone, and while I sit alone on the barren steps of Low after dark, I hear the laughter of friends waft from behind her voice—reaching my ears all the way from D.C. She is definitely not alone when she says, “It’s a place where people of all walks of life can come together to find a salvation on one common ground.” This is the first taste that I get of life at a historically black college or university, and it leads me to wonder what I am missing out on.

As Columbia once again becomes a stage for microaggressions against the black community to turn into macroaggressions, I’ve been both impressed and dismayed by the reactions scattered across this campus. I was surprised at the speed with which both student groups and individuals took to condemning the actions of Barnard Public Safety two weeks ago, as well as the speed of a letter of response from the University (a low bar, I know, but they met it).