Students at black colleges in the US wield political power ahead of Election Day

Written by: Arriana McLymore, Bianca Flowers and Allende Miglietta

GREENSBORO, NC/WASHINGTON, DC (Reuters) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University student Nia Heaston walked around campus wearing her school’s signature blue and gold colors and marveled at the excitement at her 98th commencement weekend in late October.

Like thousands of students, alumni and supporters of nearly 100 historically Black colleges and universities across the country, Heaston was quickly caught up in celebrations celebrating Black culture, tradition, school pride and community spirit throughout the weekend.

HBCUs were once the only place Black Americans could receive higher education when discriminatory laws prohibited them from attending predominantly white universities.

The festivities, which attracted celebrities and politicians, featured step demonstrations by Black fraternities and sororities that included dance routines with percussion, beats and claps. Gospel singers poured their hearts out. Models strutted down the runways in shiny chainmail tops and floor-length fur coats under blue and purple lights.

Bands were playing and swaying as crowds moved to the music before the football game against a rival HBCU.

“HBCUs are not just schools for black students, they are homes,” said Heaston, a 21-year-old sophomore from Detroit.

In the midst of all this, zealous volunteers mobilized potential voters and encouraged them to use their power as citizens whose voices would be heard.

Homecoming weekends in many battleground states took on extra significance this year, weeks before the Nov. 5 election, as Kamala Harris, a Democrat with a Howard University degree, ran for the White House against Republican former President Donald Trump.

Young Americans could play a crucial role in the race, as many people are voting for the first time in the presidential election.

Heaston, who hails from the swing state of Michigan, helped coordinate early voting initiatives like “Walk to the Polls,” which brought students together to walk less than a mile to vote at a campus polling area.

Knowing that Harris had the chance to be the first HBCU graduate in the Oval Office, HBCU campuses were pulsing with excitement as the generations came together.

The step show at North Carolina A&T evolved into exciting dance rhythms with intricate footwork and synchronized clapping that echoed through the First Horizon Coliseum.

at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., of which Harris is a member. Its members lined up in a hall decorated in green and holding pink pom-poms.

HBCUs have long been culturally and politically active centers among Black communities, playing a key role in elections and the civil rights movement. Famous alumni include Morehouse College graduate Martin Luther King Jr. There are.

Harris has often talked about how her years at Howard University in Washington, D.C. influenced her career.

“It challenges the narrative that HBCUs are somehow not on the same level as other universities,” said Howard alumnus and political strategist Ed Sanders.

Targeting undecided voters, Harris and Trump invested heavily in political ads and made multiple visits to battleground states such as North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia, which are home to more than a dozen HBCUs. Trump won North Carolina by nearly 75,000 votes in 2020.

Tiffany Seawright, North Carolina A&T’s director of leadership and inclusion, said that while 1990s R&B music blasted at tailgates, it was held in parking lots where hundreds of people lined up for grilled ribs and fried catfish. Seawright urged students to cast their votes at the early voting campus.

Both campaigns were a last-ditch effort to appeal to young adults, who may be harder to reach than those 30 and older.

Harris has won strong support from some groups of Black Americans who are considered the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc, including young women, by engaging them on social justice and abortion rights. But young voters have criticized the Biden-Harris administration for its support for Israel over the war in Gaza and expressed concerns about Harris’ support among Black men.

Trump is reportedly gaining traction among black men, but some Democratic strategists say that’s exaggerated. A recent NAACP poll found that from August to October, the percentage of Black men under 50 who were likely to vote for Trump fell from 27% to 21%, while support for Harris fell from 51% to 59%. It revealed that it rose to a.

But Harris’s lead over Trump has narrowed to a single point, 44 percent to 43 percent, over Republicans in the final stretch of the race, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

Political strategist and policy advisor Dr. Basil Smikle Jr. said parties need to “make voters feel that they are in a long-term relationship.”

Harris’ campaign did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. But the campaign announced plans in September to partner with local campaigns to reach HBCU students during homecomings, with an emphasis on schools in swing states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia; state President Joe Biden won by a razor-thin margin of 12,000 votes in 2020.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Janiyah Thomas said she “seized the opportunity to connect with young Black voters” by highlighting initiatives that benefit HBCUs and their home states.

Nonprofit Vote.org told Reuters it has targeted more than 1 million voters ages 18 to 24 this election cycle by targeting underrepresented groups and first-time voters in voter campaigns and other outreach to students on HBCU campuses and in areas with large numbers of black voters. He said he recorded it.

Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey noted the “unprecedented” youth turnout this election cycle; Voters under 35 accounted for nearly 80% of all new registrations on the organization’s platform during the 2024 cycle, up from 64% in 2020.

NC A&T freshman Justice Montgomery registered to vote during band camp in July. The drummer plans to cast his ballot on campus with other members of the group called the Blue & Gold Marching Machine.

“Initially, I couldn’t even imagine myself going to vote,” the Georgia native said. After performing at N.C. A&T’s graduation ceremony to cheers that also greeted the dance teams, Montgomery said, “we took a break from the music to just dive deeper” into some voting issues; the campus king, queen, and other members of the “royal court”; and a banner of blue balloons that read “Kamala.”

BlackPAC CEO Adrianne Shropshire said graduation events give candidates the opportunity to make a final push and “have in-depth conversations with people who are still undecided.”

BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee, collaborated with Howard University students to engage with their peers as it celebrated its centennial.

Howard student Chloé Enoch, 21, said this year’s election and Harris’ race are already inspiring younger generations.

Harris, the HBCU’s most famous graduate, has appeared on apparel, pins and other merchandise. The Howard alum waved fans with paper signs showing his face on the front and early voting and election dates on the back.

First-time voter Kadin Wooten, 19, said this homecoming is about realizing “how important it is that you vote.” After class, he took the six-hour train ride home to New Haven, Connecticut, to vote in person.

Seeing a Howard graduate on the ballot spurred clothing brand owner Travis Merritts, a 21-year-old college senior, into action.

At the graduation ceremony, Merritts sold T-shirts featuring Harris’s 1986 Howard graduation picture. He drove a few hours south to Florence, South Carolina, to cast the first vote in person because he thought it was important.

“I’m happy to be involved in probably setting the date,” Merritts said.

(Reporting by Arriana McLymore, Bianca Flowers and Allende Miglietta; Editing by Kat Stafford and Richard Chang)