Dive Summary:
- A letter written by Renee Higginbotham-Brooks, vice chair of Howard University's governing board, to the school's board of trustees warns that the school "will not be here in three years" if the university does not take action to rectify its financial situation.
- Higginbotham-Brooks called for no confidence votes in both the board chairman and university president.
- In her letter, Higginbotham-Brooks noted "the rationale for [Howard University's] existence is expected to be challenge since African-American students can attend any college or university today" and that the school "lack[s] an infrastructure for fundraising to replace decreasing tuition revenue and shrinking Federal dollars."
From the article:
In the letter, Higginbotham-Brooks complained of a "combination of fewer students who can arrange financial aid" and high school counselors who she claimed are steering students toward state colleges, which have lower tuition rates. She said that trend will continue, that the university should expect fewer federal dollars as a result of the sequester, and that "the rationale for the university's existence is expected to be challenged since African-American students can attend any college or university today."
Similar budgetary concerns were cited in a Jan. 31 internal memo signed by Howard President Sidney Ribeau. In the memo, the Washington City Paper reported, Howard cut senior level administrators pay by 5 percent, made changes to staff health care plans and temporarily suspended the university's contributions to employees' savings plans. However, that was a year after spending $1.1 million on administrator bonuses. The university is also spending $107 million to build two new dorms.