Howard University is where Vice President Kamala Harris spent some of the most formative years of her life, and now it will be the location where she spends what may be the most important night of her life: election night.
His campaign announced this week that Harris will spend election night in Washington, DC, his alma mater.
“I’m proud to be the first HBCU vice president in the United States. I’m going to be the first HBCU president in the United States,” said Harris in an interview with Charlamagne tha God just two weeks ago.
The Democratic presidential candidate graduated from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in 1986. On the campus, located on a hill in Washington, DC, he also pledged the first black sorority in the US, Alpha Kappa Alpha. At Historically Black Colleges and Universities was founded in 1869 and is often referred to as “Mecca” for its storied legacy of producing Black community leaders like Stokely Carmichael and Thurgood Marshall.
If elected, Harris would become the first black woman to win the presidency, and she has made history as the first black woman to win the nomination of a major party. But his identity is rarely brought up on the campaign trail despite the historical nature.
Although Harris may not talk about his race on the trail often, he has highlighted the role of Howard University in life throughout his political career; the latest is to be one of the locations he is making preparations for debate her to former President Donald Trump. It was also where he launched his failed 2020 presidential bid.
The Harris campaign recently reached out to HBCUs and tried to attract young voters and alumni by visiting homecomings on school campuses for what it called the “HBCU Homecoming Tour.”
Trey Baker, a senior adviser to Harris, said the homecoming tour is about meeting voters wherever they are. There are nearly 290,000 students enrolled at HBCUs across the country, according to the Pew Research Center. Every fall, students and alumni gather on campus for homecoming that feels like a family reunion.
Many homecoming tours of the campaign have been in the country of war, but this campaign also intends to visit Howard’s homecoming, which took place at the end of October.
With the rally being held just a few blocks away from the Howard campus, the Harris campaign provided free food and drinks, with merch and yard signs given away to those who filled out their ballots.
Harris ran home to Howard this year to campaign in warring states, but in a letter written to his alma mater, he said, “At Howard, we learned that we have the capacity to be great and also have the responsibility to work hard to live up to.” that potential every day.”
Cameron Trimble, who organizes the HBCU tour and is also a Howard graduate, told CBS News it filled people with “a great deal” to be able to vote for a fellow Bison.
“This is a chance for America to really make good on the promise of the founding of this country, that everyone is really created equal and that any American can break through any glass ceiling that exists,” said Trimble.
Mississippi State Rep. Justis Gibbs graduated from Howard in 2018 but returned for homecoming and spoke about how Harris has inspired him to get involved in politics.
“I sometimes think about how long it takes for change to happen, and then change is happening right in front of us,” Gibbs said. “I remember when I was in third grade. I never thought I’d have an African-American president in my lifetime. And now we have President Barack Obama. We’re going to have President Kamala Harris.”
Despite some support for Harris, concerns remain. A new CBS News poll found a split in support for Harris and Trump in battleground states, underscoring how close the election is.
“There were a lot of rows in this election,” said Virgil Parker, another Howard graduate. “I’m very worried about former President Trump winning because he has shown us the divisiveness he can do.”
Regardless of whether Harris wins the election, Parker said that “his access shows us that anyone can rise to any level of success regardless of who they are and what they look like. As a person of color and a graduate of HBCU, I see myself in VP Harris.”
