Staff Editorial: "Horrible University" ?

A recently published article on the website ThyBlackMan.com criticizes Howard and mocks the university's reputation as "the real HU," stating that the HU acronym should stand for "Horrible University." Raynard Jackson, founder of a consultant firm in D.C., wrote the article after what he said were several unsuccessful attempts at trying to provide Howard students with professional opportunities and receiving no response from university officials.

            Mr. Jackson claims to have called Howard Law School on his friend's behalf in order to find two black law students to interview for a government internship. A week later, his friend had apparently received no response. Mr. Jackson then placed the same call to George Washington University's Law School and his friend had the two black law students that she had been seeking within the hour.

He goes on to discuss Howard's lack of a response to his request to host a series of discussions with the Republican presidential candidates at Howard. A friend of his apparently met a similar fate after attempting to pitch the idea of a free, student-led Domino's Pizza franchise to the university.  Putting the nail in the coffin of his "Horrible University" theory, Mr. Jackson claims to have spoken to a current Howard student who shares his sentiments.

It is clear from the article that Mr. Jackson truly believes that, as a successful black man, he has a responsibility to give back. He also seems to have a sincere desire to help black youth, in particular, succeed. For this reason, we are sorry that he has had some negative encounters with the university, and especially that students may have missed out on opportunities to benefit from his generosity. However, it is unfair to judge the entire university based on a few negative experiences and the opinion of one Howard student. Somebody revoke his/her Bison One Card ASAP.

To call the university "horrible" is to unnecessarily insult thousands of students, faculty, and staff members, and countless alumni who work hard and have made amazing contributions to Howard's legacy, as well as to its present.

Unfortunately, many people can relate to Mr. Jackson's difficulty in getting a response from members of the University's administration. It is sad to think that those problems may extend into professional arenas as well. Although it is also possible that he was not reaching out to the right people, Howard needs to improve in terms of communicating messages, be they great or small.

Whether or not the University was interested in what he had to offer (There's pizza in The Punch Out. HU College Republicans alone might've been the most enthused about the Republican presidential candidates, and good for GW for being timely, Howard Law should've been as well, but something tells us GW Law has fewer qualified Black law students to choose from), he deserved a gracious and timely response.

With that said "Horrible University" is a gross and unnecessary exaggeration. Detractors aside, Howard is, was, and has been "the real HU" since 1867, and it always will be.  

             Our View: While Mr. Jackson's statements raise some important and frequently discussed issues about University responsiveness, his sweeping judgment of Howard as a "horrible university" was uncalled for.