Open Campus: The debate over the use of Howard's campus by neighbors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Howard is an absolutely filthy campus. There have literally been whirling dervishes of litter and trash blowing around on the quad and and front of the student center the times I've attended events there. It was disgusting. Like a filthy third world country level of litter and trash blowing around. And of course not one student ever picked up a single piece of it. Compared to the trash and litter the students leave behind, someone walking their dog is a joke.

This is so wrong, and mean. I work at HU. The campus is beautiful. Why else would people go out of their way to walk their dogs on the campus? And yes, they need to go out of their way because there is no housing adjacent to the Yard or Valley.

[Anonymous]

I think if Howard wishes then it should ban dogs from its campus. One sees self entitled people who flout leash laws and don’t clean up after their dogs, whether I’m public parks or someone else’s private property.

That said, it seems that some of the students based on their comments have more of a problem with the color of ‘outsiders’ than with dogs on their campus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. I went to Columbia in NYC and we had people streaming in all the time, tourists, residents, kids and yes, dogs. I don't think there was ever an issue with it.

Those are schools with very different cultures and very different histories.

+1. Also, does Columbia have a quad? I've only been to the medical campus, but it seems more urban feeling than Howard.

Of course it does. A gorgeous one.

Eh, an OK campus, but not exactly gorgeous.
—Columbia alum

[Anonymous]

A tiff between BLM and BLM (as in Black Labs Matter)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“In 2015, students started the Twitter hashtag #wearenotapark, expressing distaste with residents using the campus as communal green space. “Dear White people, Howard University is not a park,” reads one tweet. “Howard is our safe space, not your play place,” reads another.

If a white person posted this there would be a protest. Sorry, but I live in bloomingdale and howard’s Campus feels safe compared to the increasing crime at neighborhood playgrounds (stabbings, shootings, smoking weed). I’ve witnessed all of the aforementioned during the day while out with my kids. I choose to walk through howard’s Campus to get to the shops nearby Bc there is security. I will also kick a ball on their grounds at times because I don’t have to worry about dog poop, glass, or needles. The issue that needs to be addressed is the surrounding parks/playgrounds and he crimes committed weekly.

+1000. Expressing the need for a “safe space” has become an excuse for blatantly exclusionary behavior. Unacceptable, especially given the federal funds handed over to Howard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me feel like, as a white person, I would be unwelcome and made to feel unsafe walking anywhere on the HU campus, with or without a dog. Sure, the dog walking is the pretext, but the subtext seems to be that no white person can enter the campus without the express permission of a black person.

HBCUs were created bc blacks were unwelcome on white campuses. And our current President has made it clear that many minorities are not welcome in the states either. White ppl have the entire country at their feet. This is one Yard. Just one. Y’all will live.

I mentor several Howard students, and I am supposed to visit them on campus next week and give a talk.

If white people arent welcome, i suppose i should cancel.

What are you talking about? You do know HU has white students and staff that work there right?

It is disrespectful to have your dog poop where people maybe sitting, especially where people sit. There are dog parks all over the area. HU should probably just ban dogs altogether unless they are service animals since you have people like this moron on TV on Fox5 today saying a 152 year old campus should move so he can walk his dog. I mean really...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me feel like, as a white person, I would be unwelcome and made to feel unsafe walking anywhere on the HU campus, with or without a dog. Sure, the dog walking is the pretext, but the subtext seems to be that no white person can enter the campus without the express permission of a black person.

JFC-just stop. I'm white and have been on HU campus plenty of times. You just don't get it. Do you have a yard? I'll walk my dog on it so he can take a dump. I'm sure you won't mind!

I don’t think people bring their dogs to howard’s Campus intending to use their lawn as a bathroom. Howard is smack dab in the middle of houses and stores that residents want to get to. I wouldn’t want my dog to go to the bathroom on their campus (nor would I play fetch with my dog there), but it’s not like you can tell a dog to hold it if nature calls. Dogs poop on my lawn all the time — I don’t like it, but I won’t throw a fit about it (and I’m not even an open campus!)

If you don't have control over your dog, don't walk it out in places where people expect it to be under your control. Having a dog is NOT a right. And walking a dog through a university campus - and then just shrugging when they poop because 'dogs will be dogs' - is not a right either. It's the height of entitlement. It's almost as obnoxious as the people thinking it's acceptable to let their dogs run around desecrating a cemetery.

You're seriously sick if you think it's some sort of inevitability that your dog will sometimes poop on grass where students lounge around between classes and there's nothing you can do about it. Here's a concept: don't take your dog there. And if that means you have nowhere else to walk your dog, then you shouldn't have a dog while you live where you live. The world doesn't need to yield to you because you choose to own an animal. And store staff, owners and other customers don't want your animals inside the stores either. Start showing a bit of respect for others and understanding that the world doesn't revolve around you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This makes me feel like, as a white person, I would be unwelcome and made to feel unsafe walking anywhere on the HU campus, with or without a dog. Sure, the dog walking is the pretext, but the subtext seems to be that no white person can enter the campus without the express permission of a black person.

And the award for the most tone deaf poster goes to you!

No. That's not what they're saying. If i recently moved into the neighborhood and took my dog to your front yard (where you've been living for 25 years), let him shit on your yard where your kids play at, and then shrug it off and say "meh it's our community, if you don't like it, then you should just move away " would you be OK with that?

[Anonymous]

All I know is Sean Grubbs is getting destroyed on social media, as he should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if Howard wishes then it should ban dogs from its campus. One sees self entitled people who flout leash laws and don’t clean up after their dogs, whether I’m public parks or someone else’s private property.

That said, it seems that some of the students based on their comments have more of a problem with the color of ‘outsiders’ than with dogs on their campus

+1.

I have the impression it's more the latter than the former.

[Anonymous]

Black DC resident and dog owner here. So apparently, not one white person on this thread grasps what the issue is here. It’s not just about dog poop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Black DC resident and dog owner here. So apparently, not one white person on this thread grasps what the issue is here. It’s not just about dog poop.

No, some of us “get” the issue. We understand subtext.

If they don’t want white people to be traipsing through campus, then they need to not be an “open” campus. They need to install gates, fences and walls. People, including neighbors, will walk through an open campus; it’s supposed to work that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a current debate about the use of Howard's campus by the community. I really do see both sides of the debate. If it is such a historic landmark, then the community should be able to access it but I agree that dog poop on the grass is a too much.

https://dcist.com/story/19/04/17/new-neighbors-keep-walking-their-dogs-on-howards-campus-students-say-its-disrespectful/?fbclid=IwAR1bdDMW4XzkpJQ_jGaf-yGyb6C73kBHVxJpHHA1xgt7Z7AlIj_OsqN2zrw

It's a college, not a historic landmark or a park. People can use it if they are respectful - but they're not being respectful, apparently. I used to live there and jog through in the early mornings (I am white) -- it was pretty easy to get the sense that it was not a park for the public to hang out in. I'm glad I was able to jog through it because it allowed me to see what an HBCU looked like, but if people are using it like a park, then I understand if it needs to be closed.

WRONG. The quad itself is a historic landmark as are SEVERAL buildings on campus. Please read on the history of Howard. It has a history worth protecting. This is part of the problem. White folks dont want to understand context, starting the reason why Howard exists in the first place!

[Anonymous]

Howard was founded in 1867. The issue is that dog owners many whom are new to DC want to be able to take over a campus in which they have no direct ties. The students want to preserve their historically pet free space which is their absolute right. Pets are a personal privilege not a community responsibility. The campus is a safe space for students. The other issue is that historically dogs were used during slavery and civil rights movements to antagonize ADOS (American Descendants of Slaves). Today ADOS (American Descendants of Slaves) have the right to argue that they don’t feel comfortable with people, particularly white people on a campus with their large, pooping dog whom may or may not have a leash.

Here’s what DCUM and the neighborhood surrounding Howard forget——Howard has strong political ties within the region and across the country. Native born DC locals (not the transplants) will back Howard along with Council members EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. The neighbors had better tread carefully and keep quiet or risk an internet dragging fest across social media via memes and gifs. No one wants their face on a meme or gif for entitlement over a silly issue.

[Anonymous]

I do think residents have to put up with a lot with a college nearby (parking etc). Additionally even if you think it’s private property, your taxes do a lot to fund colleges and provide them with tax free status.

That being said no one should leave dog poop where others might be lounging in the grass.