Howard University president amid protests: "I am listening to you"

Howard University President Wayne Frederick said the university is "committed to being responsive" to the needs of students, days after a whistleblower said employees of the financial aid office misappropriated funds. Within 24 hours of an anonymous whistleblower alleging in a Medium post that the funds had been misused, Frederick said the university had already dealt with the issue and six employees had been fired. 

But that did little to quell the storm at the historically black university.

"I am listening to you, and I am challenging my team to make the changes you are expressing a dire need to see," Frederick said in a statement on the school's website Friday. "In addition to that, I would like to further increase the engagement with a larger and broader portion of our student body."

On Tuesday night, a post appeared on Medium alleging that employees of the financial aid office had stolen $1 million while getting grant money. The post, which named culprits who benefited, went viral Tuesday and was removed within hours. 

Frederick said Wednesday he became aware in Dec. 2016 of the alleged mismanagement between 2007 and 2016, and after an independent auditor investigated, six employees were fired in Sept. 2017. Further, Frederick pledged a series of reforms for the financial aid office, including a third-party review of who was using the financial aid module.

But questions still remained about why the university had taken so long to come forward, especially as the university has announced drastic measures in the past few years to deal with what it says is debt from uncollected tuition. To register for classes, students have to have a zero balance, or pay one-third of their outstanding bill and be enrolled in a payment plan -- a policy that has hit low-income students especially hard. 

Students began holding a sit-in at the administration building at 2 p.m. Thursday, continuing into Friday, CBS Washington D.C. affiliate WUSA-9 reports. Campus police were also present, although WUSA-9 reports little interaction between the two groups.

HU Resist organized the protest at the Administration Building, WUSA-9 reports. Their demands include: Administrators to disarm campus police, an end to what they call unsubstantiated tuition hikes, and a new president to replace Frederick.  

Although the Medium post named who was responsible, Howard has refused to name who was involved, saying it is against protocol to reveal employee names. The school said "they don't release any student information, as we are governed by FERPA." But since the post had already gone viral, the names of some of the alleged culprits have been floating around on social media as well as photos.

Tyrone Hankerson Jr., a third-year law student accused in the Medium post of embezzling $429,000, spoke to journalist Roland Martin on Friday. Hankerson confirmed he worked in the financial aid office, and called the allegations "absolutely false." He said that as an undergrad, he did receive $200,000 in financial aid, grants and employment stipends, but he said "in context" he was a year-round student who also did study abroad. He also received funds as a law student. 

"The money that was awarded me was at through the discretion of university officials who had the authority to make those decisions," he said. 

Hankerson said he has never heard about Howard University and he was not fired. He said he became the target of HU Resist because they want Frederick out. 

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