Howard and The Greater Good

The collateral damage of America's economic downturn is apparent in our institutions of higher learning. It has affected none more than Howard University and its teaching hospital, although Howard is privately endowed and receives financial support from Congress. Two years ago a trustee sounded the alarm, citing "genuine trouble," financial crisis. The "trouble" was not in the school, itself. In fact the school operated at a $13 million profit in 2014. It was Howard University Hospital, which reported a $58 million loss, bringing the outlook of the entire institution down. Furloughs of hospital staff in 2013 had, apparently, not saved the day. February 2014 brought major layoffs, so the April 2015 layoffs of school staff should not be as shocking as they are. It is not so much the fact of the 80 plus cuts. It is not even the abruptness that raises questions. It is the manner of the firings, particularly in light of the historic values and mission of Howard.

     A Washington Post article recounts the experience of E. Ethelbert Miller, who found himself locked out of his university computer and e-mail, after 40 years of service. The 64 year old Howard veteran later found a larger-than-usual paycheck deposited to his bank account. He still has the keys to his office. Miller, a known poet and the Director of the Afro-American Studies Resource Center at the University, has not been contacted directly by the university administration, neither regarding termination, nor his severance package. Adding insult to injury Miller's roots in Howard University go deep; he is a 1972 graduate of the school. The treatment he received is as unworthy of Howard University as any of the 2014 stories, and there have been some doozies:
http://hbcubuzz.com/good-bad-ugly-top-22-hbcu-stories-2014/  
    Clearly the problems run deeper than finance, but why would Americans of all cultures decry Howard's evident decline, both as an institution of higher learning and as a community? To begin Howard University has proudly awarded more than 100,000 degrees in the professions, arts, sciences and humanities, since 1867. It ranks in the top producers of Black professionals, holders of doctorates in a variety of fields. These contributions to what we could term the greater good of the Nation distinguish the University, but do not define it.

     Howard University has been at the center of this country's civil rights history, dating from the end of the Civil War. The University was named for a founder, Union Army General, Oliver O. Howard, known during war as "The Christian General."At the end of the war General Howard became President of the U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (the ill-fated Freedmen's Bureau.) Howard and his bureau sought to provide safe harbor from prosecution for Blacks designated contraband, as well as to provide basic needs, skills and education for refugees.

     The Bureau failed for political reasons; however, General Howard succeeded in joining forces with others of The First Congregational Society to found a University in Washington, D.C., dedicating it to higher education, primarily, for freedmen. General Howard eventually became the President of the University. The first offering was a degree program in Theology, principally, for aspiring clergy. The curriculum grew to include Medicine and Liberal Arts. Today the curriculum of Howard University is extensive. It is important to note that acceptance to Howard was not and is not based upon ethnicity, nor sex. Howard's earliest students were white and female, daughters of the founders.

     Howard University is one of 106 Historically Black Universities in the United States; the school prides itself on being singular among them as "the only truly comprehensive historically black university" in the country:
http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/9908huarnet/muse1.htm 
Here is an excerpt from the University's website, regarding the school's mission:

"The University has long held a commitment to the study of disadvantaged persons in American society and throughout the world. The goal is the elimination of inequities related to race, color, social, economic and political circumstances. As the only truly comprehensive predominantly Black university, Howard is one of the major engineers of change in our society. Through its traditional and cutting-edge academic programs, the University seeks to improve the circumstances of all people in the search for peace and justice on earth."

     Indeed Howard University is inextricably linked to America's Civil Rights history and future:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/3-organized/howard-university.html
In his June 1965 Commencement Speech at Howard University, Lyndon Johnson spoke of the University's history and role as an instrument of change. (See and hear his speech on YouTube.) President Johnson spoke of justice and expectation, saying, "... American justice is a very special thing. For, from the first, this has been a land of towering expectations. It was to be a nation where each man could be ruled by the common consent of all--enshrined in law, given life by institutions, guided by men themselves subject to its rule. And all--all of every station and origin--would be touched equally in obligation and in liberty." 

     We can only hope Howard University returns to its values and mission, because resolving the fiscal dilemma will not suffice. Meanwhile Howard has some tall explaining to do, especially to one 64 year old gentleman poet.