North Carolina HBCU students draw on activism background to mobilize Harris voters

The voting round is a play on HBCU graduation season, a sacred tradition at schools. Gabrielle Martin, the alliance’s campus coordinator, said the goal is to give students information about who and what is on the ballot from top to bottom and to get students to vote early so they can avoid voter ID or registration issues.

This effort is non-partisan. But there’s no doubt that Harris’ presidential candidacy, herself an HBCU graduate (from Howard University), is generating excitement.

Justin Nixon, a senior and student government president at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, said having Harris at the helm of Democrats has shown positive attention to HBCUs and given them a seat at the table. “We’ve always said what we can do, but now we can truly say that this in particular is a clear representation of what an HBCU can and does produce.”

Still, students say their efforts are about civic engagement, not taking sides.

“It’s really important, especially during an election like this, for us students to take the reins of something this important,” said Kylie Rice, a senior and student government president at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. largest HBCU.

“We stand on the shoulders of giants and recognize the civilian footprint we have left. Now, it’s up to us to truly realize that same momentum and carry it forward.”

North Carolina’s HBCU students have been leading civil rights movements for decades.

For example, students at Bennett College in Greensboro, one of only two all-female HBCUs in the country, protested a local movie theater in the late 1930s because it would exclude black people from movies. In 1960, Bennett women, known as the Bennett Belles, were joined by North Carolina A&T students in protesting at a local lunch counter.

“I feel like we’re making our Belles of the past, our big sisters, proud and happy because they were behind so many movements, and now we’re here to make history ourselves,” said Bennett junior Lanell Jones-Huddleston.

This spirit of activism has not diminished.

In 2019, black communities in North Carolina, particularly in Greensboro, Charlotte and other cities, were gerrymandered in a process that weakened their voter power. North Carolina A&T students were affected by the university’s split and marched against the maps in response.

North Carolina is also grappling with voter ID court battles and now the devastation of Hurricane Helene; residents worry it could disrupt voting.

“We want to encourage early voting so that if there is a registration issue, ID issue or voting issue, students will have time to apply so their vote can still count,” Martin said.

The tour began at Shaw University on October 17, North Carolina’s first day of early voting. It will wrap up at Fayetteville University on Friday.

Local HBCUs also host many other engagement events, including teacher-student voter information sessions at Bennett College, lecture summaries explaining the importance of voting at Elizabeth City State University, and various game nights with Black fraternities and sororities did.

North Carolina appears to be up for grabs, as Republican Donald Trump’s margin of victory in 2020 was just 74,481 votes; this was the tightest of all the states he won against Democrat Joe Biden.

“It’s a very slim margin, and North Carolina HBCUs alone are a significant voting bloc,” Nixon said. “So we play a big role in shaping the dialogue around politics and issues within the black community.”

The Harris campaign is on an HBCU homecoming tour that includes a stop at Shaw. The Trump campaign also plans to reach out directly to HBCU students and highlight initiatives such as legislation he signed as president to provide permanent HBCU funding, said Janiyah Thomas, the Trump campaign’s Black media director.

An effort to rally young voters is making North Carolina HBCU students a force in the final days of the campaign. “We’re Generation Z, too, and this will be the first time for us to have a say,” said Jazmin Rawls, a 20-year-old Bennett sophomore who introduced Harris in Greensboro in September and will be a first-time voter.

Having a say in the most important election ever prompted Bennett senior and student government president Shelby Fogan to change voter registration from her home state of Ohio to North Carolina.

“I didn’t vote in local elections in Ohio last year, but this election I had to ask myself the question: where will my vote count the most?” said Fogan. “For me, this is North Carolina. “We need to really think about where our votes will have the most impact.”

Students want to know which candidates will best fight for HBCU funding at the local and federal level. These schools have historically struggled financially despite the recent influx of money.

Bennett lost his accreditation in 2019 due to his financial situation. Without accreditation, colleges cannot participate in federal programs such as student aid. Bennett received his accreditation in 2023.

Aleah Crawford, a junior at Elizabeth City State University, said HBCUs have lower tuition, giving black students a greater opportunity to attend college, so the issue is important.

“Our funding is at stake,” Crawford said. If that’s lost, “people will have to figure out how to pay out of pocket to go here, and depending on your economic situation will decide whether you can go to college or not.”

Elizabeth City is located in a rural area that political candidates may overlook. Caszhmere Chaison, a college assistant and student government official, said the school, with fewer than 2,200 students, is the only local four-year college and has contributed greatly to its growth, but students don’t always feel taken into account.

“We really have to focus on ourselves and our student body because we provide so much financial support to this city,” Chaison said. “Not everyone looks at us as part of the city. “We have to make sure we stand up for ourselves because if not us, then who?”

This sentiment is rippling through the HBCU community across the country.

Suzanne Walsh, Bennett’s student government president, said what students need to do now is cast their votes.

“Our role is to say, don’t ignore us,” Walsh said.