From new buildings, upgrades to existing facilities, and neighborhood expansion, the university has seen drastic changes, and officials expect more to come.  

“Bethune used to be a parking lot,” said Robert Mitchell, class of 1980.  “Anything past Bethune was the hood. You had to catch the shuttle unless you were from D.C. or a track runner,” he said.  

According to the university’s Real Estate Development and Capital Asset Management page, at least 10 facilities on the campus have received updates ranging from computer labs and conference rooms to new furniture and laundry facilities.  

One of the newest additions to the campus is The Oliver, a mixed-use facility on Georgia Avenue that is both a dorm for some students and offices for faculty and staff.  

“This is the only building where that’s allowed,” said Jenelle Howard, director of development, institutional giving, business and law. Howard is one of the administrators with an office housed in the new building.   

Directly behind The Oliver, Howard Manor’s revitalization delivered “80 permanently affordable homes capped at 60 percent of area median income for 99 years,” according to the development website. Units in Howard Manor are open to alumni and other community members. 

In addition, the university has entered ground-lease agreements with buildings such as Meridian, Slowe, and Carver Halls. According to the development website, these agreements allow the university to retain ownership of the land, while creating affordable housing options for the neighborhood that generate revenue for the school to fund scholarships and operations.

Earlier this year, the Miner Building reopened after a major renovation. Miner houses the School of Education and the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science PCS. 

Also new this semester is Innovation Hub, a makerspace located inside Founders Library.

“There’s not a lot of traffic because people don’t know about it yet,” said Selah Allen, a junior who works at The Hub.  

Allen said that, at times, it’s better than the library for getting work done. “It’s another space for students to have on campus, which I think is very much needed.” 

Students still see issues.

Despite the progress, current students still see issues that the university needs to tackle. Access to healthy food options remains a continuing struggle for students, and choices are increasingly limited.  

“Eating on campus is hard, and they made it inaccessible,” said Steve Texas, a senior at the university. “The only things to eat are the dining hall, McDonalds, and Chick-fil-A.” He said that while progress has been made on campus in general, it’s not enough.  

 “It feels stagnant,” he said.  

 Other students, such as senior Aniyah Genama, said that off-campus options are shrinking as well.  

 “Chipotle, Subway, and Negril are all gone,’ she said.  

 For junior Janeen Louis, the lack of progress isn’t just limited to food.  

“I don’t like the new bookstore vendor because we have less books,” she said. “We used to have study spaces, I don’t see that anymore.” 

The university has added a café to the undergraduate library and upgraded kitchen facilities in some of the dorms. Overall, however, dining options are limited. “The food vendors are hit or miss,” Louis said.  

Even with these challenges, this week, the focus is on homecoming. 

“With everything going on in the world, HBCU homecomings are important,” Howard said. “Howard alum love coming back and pouring into the students,’ she said. 

H. Clay Smith, III, is one of those alum. Smith graduated from Howard in 1981, and from Howard’s law school in 1984. He stood on Fourth Street with three of his classmates reminiscing about his time at Howard.

“One thing about Howard, you can come back even 45 years later and still see someone you know,” he said.

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 The gala will be held Thursday, Oct. 23rd, from 6-10 pm at the Blackburn Center on campus. This first of a kind homecoming event, along with other major university changes, is part of an effort to support the university’s military-connected community, an effort spearheaded by Paris Adon, director of student services. 

Howard offers Army, Air Force, and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs—students who participate train, study, and graduate to become officers in their respective military branches.  

The military-connected community, however, includes student veterans and military dependents using their benefits to attend school.  

Adon said, “80% of the students who use our services are dependents.”  

Adon heads six university offices, including the Office of Military and Veteran Services (OMVS), Advocacy and Support, Student Accessibility, Bison Intervention, the Pantry, and the Office of Interpersonal Violence Prevention (IVPP). Since he came to the university, there have been several renovations, the most recent being the Veterans Resource Center.  

Armed with a grant from the Department of Education and significant investment from the university, Adon has overseen major changes. The grant allowed for renovations to create the Veterans Resource Center, and the university added staff to help support the military-connected population, which has grown to nearly 700 students since Adon arrived.  

The success of the VRC is in large part due to the community being built within the space, Adon said. He said he takes pride in the fact that it’s a popular destination, even with students who have off-campus housing. 

“The students come down here to enjoy themselves,” Adon said. “The SVA meetings are packed.” 

The SVA is the Student Veterans of America, a student organization that uses the space for meetings and is made up of mainly military-connected students. Restarting the chapter was another win for Adon.  

Mentorship from the Ohio State University SVA chapter helped make the Gala possible. 

The Ohio State chapter suggested Adon pitch the idea to the school’s development office.

“Why don’t we do it during homecoming?” the development office asked Adon. 

The gala will honor Brigadier General Ronald Sullivan, an Army judge advocate general (JAG), graduate of Howard’s ROTC program, and the School of Business. There will be additional awards for cadets and SVA members. 

“A lot of campus partners don’t realize how connected this community is,” Adon said.  

For the students, the community is a huge draw.  

“If you come down here often enough, you’ll know everybody,’ said Xavier Rodriguez, a junior.  “It’s a chill place where a lot can go on, and nothing can go on.”  

Adon said he has tried to attend the commissioning ceremonies for the programs the university offers. His constant effort to make more connections across the campus is evident whenever he steps outside of his office.  

“We’ve done so much under his leadership,’ said Senior Vice President of Student Affairs Cynthia Evers. “They’re doing amazing things, and now others call on them.” 

Adon said he is most proud of what the students are doing with the space that he has helped create.  Not only is it a place for them to hang out, it’s a place for them to get answers, he added.  

“Any resource that Howard has, someone here knows about it,” said Joshua Gaither, a sophomore.  

Armani Bostic is a third-year law student at Howard who visits the VRC often.  

Bostic said she completed a work study program with the Veterans Administration and has found both community, and mentorship opportunities.  

“I go to school on west campus,” she said. “This is a great way to interact with the main campus.”

Adon said the staff he has built in and around the center is just as focused on creating those positive outcomes.

“We want to be the number one Student Veterans of America chapter,” Adon said. 

Keshala Fluker, one of the VRC case managers said for her, it’s about helping the students when they’re navigating hard times.  

“Sometimes you don’t know you need something until you experience it,’’ she said. 

She also said, there are more great things to come.

 “I think the more traction the VRC gets, the more positive outcomes we’ll see,” she said.  

Tickets for the event, which start at $100, are still available, and can be purchased online.

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If you didn’t, you are not alone. It’s been 50 years since the first ANC elections, but D.C. residents are unaware that these neighborhood commissions administer community grants.������

While a lot of confusion remains about the role and power of ANCs in the District, the community grant program can have visible impact, if you’re lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that offers them.����

��According to the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions FY 2025 , the role of the ANCs is “to advise the District government on matters of public policy,” which range from planning and social service programs to health, safety, and sanitation.����

The ANCs provide advice and recommendations to the D.C. Council, the mayor, and various agencies, boards, and commissions of government. Some ANCs also award grants to help their communities.��

“ANCs do a tremendous amount of work,” says Executive Director, Kent Boese. “We are in a much better city because of them.”��

The OANC oversees each of the District’s individual neighborhood commissions. When it comes to grants, both the OANC and the ANC receive the applications.����

The OANC reviews the grant for fiscal compliance and makes a recommendation on if they feel it would be an appropriate expense. The ANC can then decide if it still wants to support it, Boese said. ��

For community members who want to apply for a grant, there are rules, of course. Grants can be as much as $3,000 and are available to organizations, not individuals, based on D.C.����

Organizations can’t receive more than one grant in a year.��

Can’t duplicate a city service.��

Also, for a group to receive a grant, it can’t be for a program that duplicates a city service. Boese said that line is clear, but there is nuance.����

“For example, the city has a program where you can ask for free tools during the fall for community clean-up. However, the city doesn’t operate a program for that during the winter,” he said. A grant for a winter program would be allowed, but the ANC would need to retain ownership of the tools, he said.��

Additionally, grants can’t be used for things such as food, must benefit the community (not a person or organization), and must be for a future event, Boese said. ��

Ward 1 resident Wendy Singleton, a board member and logistics coordinator for , has helped her organization get an ANC grant for the past five years. The organization, founded by Ransom Miller III, has used the money to support their annual Thanksgiving food distribution. This event, celebrating its 30th year, helps Project Giveback support over 5,000 families with bulk food distribution throughout the city.

“It’s not a hard process,” she said. “You have to get in early. The ANCs want to make sure their constituents are being served.”��

��Not all commissioners offer grants.��

Since the ANC’s have final say if an organization or event gets funded, single member district representatives can sponsor a proposal for an organization that is based outside of their ANC. This is important because not all ANCs offer grants.����

For example, Anna Krebs, commissioner and treasurer of ANC 6B06, represents one of those districts.����

“6B does not currently have grants available, but it is something that we are actively working on,” she said. ��

She said her neighborhood commission is working with the OANC to see what kinds of grants have been approved for other neighborhoods.����

Before becoming an ANC commissioner, Krebs said she hadn’t heard of the grants either. However, she added that she does see the value of them.

��“Part of why we want to bring back grants is so we can put money back into the community,” she said.����

So who decides if an ANC will offer grants or not? According to Boese, that’s up to the ANCs as well.��

��“It is important when reading the Code to pay attention to the words ‘may’ and ‘shall.’ ‘May’ means that a Commission is allowed, but not required, to do something. ‘Shall’ means that a Commission must so something,” Boese said.��

Boese is referring to section 1–309.13(l)(1) of the D.C. Code, which says “Expenditures may be in the form of grants by the Commission for public purposes within the Commission.”��

Some commissions have elected to start creating programs themselves, rather than issue reimbursements to organizations, Boese said.��

According to the OANC Annual Report for FY24, ANCs receive an approved allotment in the D.C. budget by the mayor. For the last two years, that amount was $915,688, which comes to $1.327 per District resident based on the 2020 census.����

The OANC can also recommend that the Office of the Chief Financial Officer withhold a portion of an ANC’s allocation if that commission has spent money for something that is not allowed (e.g. a committee luncheon) or is not in accordance with the procedures for spending money (e.g. the expenditure is not recorded in the minutes, or the check does not have two signatures). It is the OCFO that makes the quarterly allotments to the ANCs.��

ANC budgets are restricted to two main uses: administration and community support. Admin can be office supplies, business cards, signs, advertising, or rent for office space or community meetings. The commissioners themselves are not paid, however.��

A common theme is a lack of awareness. “Even if people don’t get involved, they should know we exist,” Krebs said.����

Singleton said she found out about the grants from a member of her church.����

“They don’t publicize,” she said. “You need to be active in the ANC, and you need to go to meetings.”����

Boese said his office is working to fix the lack of awareness of the grant program. In addition to improving individual websites, his office is working on an initiative in conjunction with local libraries to bring more attention to the commissions, and the work they do, before next year’s election.����

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The newly elected Ward 5 councilmember said his approach to leadership centers heavily on facilitating community engagement.

Parker told 91���� that he has “already established a help team where constituent services can help address neighbor concerns,” started a weekly newsletter, and will soon be appointing a community engagement director to his team. He said he hopes that this engagement and his focus on providing “strong constituent services” that will guide Ward 5 residents towards the best channels for addressing their concerns will foster inclusion.

“On one hand, black, gay, lesbian, trans folk in the broader gay community don’t always feel seen and heard. And so that is important for me to help reflect that and change that on the council,” Parker said. “At the same time, within the black community, as D.C. is changing so rapidly, many within the black community feel as though that change is happening to them versus with them, that they are not participating in the growing prosperity of the city.”��

Parker said that “tailored policy prescriptions” are needed that “meet the realities of Washingtonians” and ensure that their voices are heard.��

At the top of his agenda are responding to the demand for affordable housing – which Parker notes is rising given the “changing face of D.C.” – and public safety.

“We’re on the heels of a tragic mass shooting in Colorado Springs. And so that responsibility goes beyond just representation, but that I actually need to fight for the community and provide a voice at the table –through policy, through action, through oversight – to make sure that the LGBTQ+ community is centered in the city’s policy decisions,” Parker said.

He said that the shooting “reinforces the need for us to address the crimes here locally”.

“And so, it’s just a reminder that what the LGBTQ community needs is much more than parades and flashy events, but actually housing and protection and access to jobs. And those are the things that I’m going to be fighting for and against.”

Parker views inequity in the city’s housing market as a larger system issue affecting marginalized communities, one in which “Wards 8, 7 [and] 5, usually in that order, start seeing disproportionately more cases of everything – violence, sickness, cases of COVID”.��

A former representative of the D.C. State Board of Education for over a decade, Parker views public school safety as yet another example of entrenched inequity.��

“What we’re seeing happen is a system issue within our schools. And it is unconscionable that we would have students in school buildings work without working HVAC systems, heating systems, and it will be important for me to hold the city, including our mayor, accountable to the interests and the needs of Ward 5 residents,” Parker said.��

Parker said that public-school safety is an issue that affects Black and LGBTQ+ disproportionately and described the importance of acknowledging intersectionality amongst his constituents “because those challenges are not the same across the community.”��

“We know that bullying in school is on the rise. We know that, as members of the community affirm their own identity with their family, at times, that puts them out on the street either because the family is not accepting or welcoming, or they are facing bullying within the home,” Parker said.

“So, very quickly, you can see how members of the community, especially marginalized members of the community, are facing many barriers in many facets of their lives, working to housing to safety, and the list goes on. And it’s important for us to address that.”

The post D.C.’s first Black, LGBTQ+ Councilmember Zachary Parker contemplates his new role first appeared on 91����.

“Democracy brought me here to the polls today,” said Noma Faison. “Democracy is something that allows us as voters to be able to make decisions to make sure that everything is enabled to help people. It allows them to be able to get jobs; young people can go out and get jobs with assistance … They need food, they need shelter. They need electricity. They need water. They need gas, and maybe help with their utilities and rental rates. Now, there’s no rent ceilings.”

Faison isn’t the only voter with concerns about affordable housing access.

“The prices are just through the roof. People who can afford it are even going to be priced out if [rent payments] just keep rising,” said Edward Robinson.

According to Robinson, “politicians and people in power making decisions that help the people” might be able to make a difference. “You have to monitor and be aware of how you treat the people in your communities and provide for them.”

Akram Abdul-Khalek said he understands the need for development, but he adds that the people who live here should be able to stay here and that housing should be affordable to them.

Referring to Bowser’s track record on affordable housing, Abdul-Khalek said, “I think she’s a little more about development and making sure, you know, her supporters and developers in the area make money.”

��Perspectives from voters at the library on the availability of affordable housing in D.C. ranged from in good standing to nonexistent. A shared concern was barriers to access.

“There is no affordable housing in Northeast, anywhere in the District,” said Catrina Felder. “I work in the District. I live here, but I can’t buy – I rent. And I work here, but I still can’t buy. I can’t afford it, and I work every day.”

“They build these outrageous residences when they start at $2- or $3,000 a month, and chicken costs me $20. And, as you can see, I’m used to eating a little bit of chicken and other things,” Felder laughed. “How am I going to be able to afford a $3,000 mortgage?”

For Nurya Saffron-Bey, inefficiency and barriers to information keep affordable housing from those most in need.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with several women through domestic violence, in advocacy. And affordable housing seems to be a major concern, a major issue, here in the city [as well as] lack of access to it,” said Saffron-Bey.

Residents have to navigate an endless circle of people to get clarity and answers for things like specific dates, Saffron-Bey said. “It just seems to be a long, drawn-out process.”

“It’s kind of like one person passing the buck to the next, you know what I mean? And then maybe, finally, you get to someone that has enough compassion to say: Okay, well, let me see if I can help this person,” she said.

Andrea Burks agreed. The D.C. homeowner said, a problem she has noticed is that, while housing is available, the information is only advertised to a few, so vacant units get snatched up before a community in need of access is even able to hear about it.

“They need to share that information,” Burks said, so that the distribution of affordable housing access is more equitable.

Like Burks, Saffron-Bey said that the “people at the top are not necessarily communicating with the people who actually need the services.”

This becomes a problem because sometimes services are available, but people never get them or a deadline to access them passes, Saffron-Bey said. It is important that “the people at the top” are communicating with people at the grassroots level so those who really need the resource will be able to access them immediately and not months down the road, she said.

Uncontested candidate for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vijay Kumar said, “The amount of our city that falls in the category of less desirable is diminishing, which also means that private developers are going to have a lot of pressure to renovate the existing housing stock.”

“And as a result of that process, you end up with new a lot more new housing as a proportion of our housing, which means that we have less affordable housing. And I think that is the crux of the problem that most folks have,” Kumar said.

“We need to hold developers accountable and hold the D.C. government accountable for its voucher system, for its inclusionary zoning occupying system, Kumar said. “We also do need to just be building more expediently. We need to unlock more of our land for construction of homes besides detached houses.”

Darin Burks said a lot of people in D.C. cannot afford some of the new homes in the city because so many appear to be high-end condos.

“And they just put all of the underprivileged and the low-income people in the same location, which causes all issues that’s going on – shootings, stabbings, robberies, thefts,” said Burks, referring to crime that is often associated with low-income housing areas.

But Jackie C., who asked that 91���� not use her last name, said there’s a solution to crime plaguing areas where low-income housing develops – the government should go a step further in providing for more than just access to affordable housing by also integrate community recreation areas – particularly for youth, who “need an outlet, in a way, to get out some of that anger and frustration.”

“I learned how to ride a bike. I learned how to play tennis. I learned how to play flag football and how to swim. All those things are therapeutic for children, you know, being brought up in low-[income] areas of the District of Columbia,” she said.

These voters all agreed on one thing – that affordable housing is a necessity.

As new Ward 5 resident, Juita Martinez, 29, said, “I just think it’s a human right to be able to have housing and to have shelter, and everyone should have access to it.”

The post Ward 5 Voters: DC’s affordable housing market available but poorly accessible first appeared on 91����.

According to Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Officer Alaina Gertz, the driver of the vehicle fled the scene following the incident, which occurred at 11:18 P.M. at the 4500 block of Clement Drive NE. Officers De Roo and Ferrell of the Metropolitan Police Department were on the scene Monday morning but declined to comment.

Although no injuries were reported, the crash caused significant damage to the home of Gaius Boumediene and his family. Boumediene’s wife, mother-in-law, two-year-old son and baby daughter were in the living room of their apartment when the champagne-colored Lexus crashed into their bedroom, landing on top of a mattress without causing any casualties.

“I was talking to my wife and mother-in-law, we were just discussing, and we just heard the sound, ‘Boom!’” Boumediene said, standing in front of the rubble of his home.

“Around that time, my son, we always send him into the bedroom to go and sleep, so that was just by God’s grace that we did not send him to the bedroom – and this is our bed here,” said Boumediene, pointing to the bed now crushed beneath the weight of the sedan.

Boumediene said that the space is unlivable, and he worries about the state of his damaged household items.

“For now, they are going to, first of all, remove all the big pieces [of rubble], and then, after that, we are going to maybe take any important belongings.”

The property manager for Clermont Apartments declined to comment. The property’s owner, Dreyfuss Management, did not return calls seeking comment.

Boumediene said that, to his knowledge, it is the first time that the apartment complex has experienced this.

“This is America, and I know that before building a structure, I think engineers came to [test] the scenarios that may happen,” said Boumediene, whose family is originally from Cameroon. “I think they need to put something like a fence here.”

The father of two did not see the driver, but heard that the suspect exited the car and ran down Webster Street NE.

The vehicle is a tan Lexus sedan with D.C. license plate number GL 5861.

Velvet Grimshaw, a resident living next door to the Clermont Apartments, arrived home with her husband around 2:00 A.M. to see police at the scene.

“I’m completely floored,” Grimshaw said. “We were totally in shock, like, we got out the car right here because we couldn’t believe it. Like, wow.”

Grimshaw was not at the scene when the crash occurred but said she believes the driver meant to take a right turn onto Webster Street NE.

“This is a dangerous intersection right here, this curve here. So, from our assumption last night, it looked like they may have missed that curve, because I’ve been in the car with people that had almost missed this and came this way right thinking that this is a normal turn.�� It’s not a normal turn.”

If you have any information on this vehicle, please contact the Metropolitan Police Department at (202)-727-9099.

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On this third week of October, the Facilities Maintenance Division of the Department of General Services is expected to begin its to prepare public schools for cold weather conditions.

But, as the DGS’ own Public Work Order Dashboard shows, numerous school repairs are still pending and unfulfilled – some delayed by months.

Jennifer Fitzpatrick, a concerned parent and a teacher at Langdon Elementary School, brought the to the public’s attention last month, when she spoke with WUSA9 about how some of the school’s students have been learning in the dark.

Faulty lighting has been an ongoing issue, and though some of the school’s lighting has . The president of its Parent Teacher Organization, Shemika Smith, said that there is more to be done and recalled how teachers had to provide their own headlamps and appliances to compensate for the lack of proper lighting.

“I think the root cause of the issue is that when DCPS fixes things, it’s like they just put a band-aid over it, instead of doing a complete overhaul,” Smith said. “And I think that’s why continues to be an issue, not just in our schools, but [in]schools across D.C. When they fix it, they don’t do a complete fix.”

With winter approaching and autumn already here, the most concerning delays in public school repairs are the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or HVAC, services.

“Every year when they switch from air conditioning to heat, it’s not fully functional, and every year, staff and parents and the community are left wondering why these issues are not being addressed when kids are not in the building when we had this whole pandemic year, we had all this time to check on all of these facility-based concerns,” Fitzpatrick said in an interview with 91����.

The inability to regulate temperatures and faulty HVAC systems puts students, teachers, and staff health at risk.

“I guess my main concern is just being able to have a safe learning environment for my kids and other kids at the school. DC talks a lot about equity and equity within the school system, and equity starts with making sure that you have a safe learning environment,” Smith said.

Langdon Elementary isn’t the only public school with delayed repairs in Ward 5.

Smith said that schools with higher percentages of minority students – particularly Title I schools and those east of the Anacostia River – tend to be the schools most affected by delayed repairs.

In Wards 5, across 10 public education campuses alone, there are 116 open orders for HVAC services. In Ward 8, there are 130 open word orders for HVAC services across 18 schools; the earliest expected completion date is from May 2022. Comparatively, Ward 2, which has a lower minority population, has roughly 28 open work orders for HVAC services across 10 schools.

The earliest expected completion dates for these repairs are from ten months ago, in December 2021. It is unclear why maintenance issues across DCPS are so numerous and so significantly delayed.

“It’s clear that if we’re having issues right after modernization has [been] done to so many buildings, that something is not being completed correctly. If this was my house and that was the result of getting a remodel done, I would be in court suing the contractors, because they didn’t do the work correctly,” Fitzpatrick said.

In a statement emailed to 91���� in response to several requests for comment,��Keith A. Anderson, director of the Department of General Services, said��the Department of General Services ��is conducting its annual cooling-to-heating changeover at all District-owned properties, starting Oct. 15.

“During this transition, DGS will be working with all District government properties to transfer air conditioning systems to heating services.�� The 2022-23 heating system transition will include municipal buildings, schools, recreation centers, police stations, fire and emergency stations, homeless centers, and senior centers and will last for approximately 30 to 45 days,” Anderson wrote.

“The process of switching from air conditioning to heating involves significant engineering detail and, as a result, systems cannot return to cooling once taken offline, until the following spring season – which is a standard practice,” he said. ��“During the transition, building temperatures may fluctuate up to 30 degrees within a 24-hour period which may impact target comfort levels, before leveling to desired comfort levels. DGS works closely with DCPS on any contingency plans for heating matters to ensure students, teachers and school administration are in a comfortable, safe environment.”

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