Howard University’s capstone moment: Kamala Harris at top of the ticket

WASHINGTON — As a young student, Kamala Harris made the nearly 3-mile trek from Howard University to the National Mall to protest apartheid in South Africa.

In 2017, she returned to her alma mater as a senator to deliver the commencement speech.

In July, when she was told she would likely be the Democratic presidential nominee, she was wearing her Howard sweater at the residence of the vice president.

Howard, one of the nation’s most famous historically black colleges, played a central role in Harris’ rise. Now, as she seeks to become the first female president, the university is at a peak.

The school has produced prominent figures such as the Chief Justice Thurgood Marshalwhose legacy inspired Harris to visit Howard, and author Toni Morrisonamong other things. Some at the university see Harris’ appointment as vice president as a further affirmation of one of the school’s core missions: service.

“There is clearly a direct relationship between Howard and his relationship to democracy and the democracy that we envision, a democracy that is practiced in a way that includes all of us,” said Melanie Carter, the founding director of the Howard University Center for HBCU Research, Leadership and Policy.

If Harris were to win the White House, she would be the first woman elected president and the first graduate of a historically black college to hold that office. With many HBCUs, like some liberal arts colleges, struggling financially, her rise has cast Howard in a positive light.

“It gives students the opportunity to reach further than they thought was possible,” said Nikkya Taliaferro, a senior at Howard University from Honolulu who said the 2024 presidential election will be her first time voting. “Even if she doesn’t win, she’s already made such an impact and I know that’s going to be unforgettable for all of us.”

He told Stefanie Brown James, a Howard alumna and co-founder of The Collective PAC, which works to increase black political representation, that for Howard, Harris’s rise underscores “all the pieces that are coming together.” Right now, she is the personification of the leadership, the excellence, the global responsibility for service that Howard represents.

In her 2017 graduation speech, Harris said Howard taught her to reject false choices and steered her toward public service. In her memoir, she wrote that Howard taught her that there is an expectation that students and graduates “will use their talents to take on leadership roles and make an impact on other people, on our country, and perhaps even on the world.”

In a Instagram post Reflecting on her time with Howard, she wrote, “Along the way, Howard taught me that even though you’ll often find yourself the only one in the room who looks like you, or who’s had the same experiences as you, remember: You are never alone.”

Earlier this year she wrote in a Facebook post that investing in HBCUs is an investment “in the strength of our nation for years to come,” as she welcomed Howard’s men’s basketball team to the White House as champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. HBCUs have historically struggled to generate investment, despite recent influxes of funding and donations, leaving them struggling financially.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., a Howard Law graduate, said Howard’s “each one, teach one camaraderie” shaped how many former politicians approach their work. “It allowed us to cheer for each other in ways that I wouldn’t have gotten at another institution,” Lee said. “Those guidelines to be a social engineer, to not sit on the sidelines and to create public policy that is rooted in the experiences of the most marginalized people. That’s a Howard trait.”

The Howard Network also provides financial and organizational support to Harris’ campaign. The Collective PAC used his HU Bison PAC, which has a virtual conversation for graduates with more than 4,000 participants and more than $150,000 raised, according to James. The Bison PAC plans another appeal on Wednesday.

On campus, a group called Herd for Harris is campaigning in her support. Other student-led organizations are mobilizing students to register to vote and get involved in presidential debates and policies that could affect them most.

“It was immediate and that’s just Howard,” James said. “Something happens, we have to react to it, so we go to work. It’s just a Howard thing.”

While Harris enjoys broad support on campus, there are students who challenge Harris over his policies, particularly regarding the war in Gaza.

“What we expect from Kamala Harris in this election is really derived from the morality that Howard taught us, that we are an oppressed people and we have to stand up for oppressed people abroad as well,” said Courtney McClain, a student senator at Howard who met with Harris in 2020. She said she plans to support Harris while holding her accountable.

With the November election approaching, Harris has been on the campaign trail extensively, preparing for her first debate against Republican Donald Trump — including a mock session with Howard — on Sept. 10. Still, she made time to speak to a crowd of Howard’s largest incoming freshman class outside Cramton Auditorium.

Through a megaphone, she told them she was proud of them and urged them to enjoy the moment.

“You might be running for president of the United States,” she said to loud cheers.