Atlanta students are speaking out and demanding better housing and more funding for their HBCUs.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dozens of students from the city’s HBCUs gathered in protest on Monday to demand improved student housing from administrators. The students also call for congressional elected officials from Georgia to provide more funding for the schools and student loan debt relief.
Students from Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Morris Brown and Spelman wish to meet with the leaders of their colleges to “discuss a full assessment of housing needs and quality of life.”
The Atlanta schools have historically received less money from philanthropists and foundations. The recent hike in student donations has been steered toward student scholarships.
“It’s time to cash in on these promises … We must demand better together,” said Marcellus Kirkland, a Morehouse College senior majoring in sociology.
Earlier this month, students at Howard University took over the Blackburn University Center to demonstrate against housing conditions and lack of student representation on the school’s board of trustees. A statement was released vowing to resolve the issues in time. However, students who participated in the sit-in began to receive warnings from Howard University’s leadership, threatening expulsion.
Several artists on Gucci Mane’s 1017 record label joined students in a sit-in protest against institution’s based university’s poor housing conditions.
“Even though we are doing this in solidarity with Howard, these are our issues,” said Clark Atlanta senior Alivia Duncan.
