Mold at Howard U., and an omicron update

Why dozens of students at Howard University spent part of their fall semester living in tents. And, omicron comes to the United States.

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Mold, mice, water damage and no WiFi. Those have been some of the conditions in Howard University’s housing units in Washington. This fall, the conditions led to protests that lasted more than 30 days. Some students even slept in tents on the historically Black university’s campus. But such conditions aren’t new. For years, students and graduates have complained about building conditions at a school that’s often called “the Mecca.”

Many students blamed university president Wayne A.I. Frederick. But some students say Corvias, a private company that manages 60 percent of the housing on Howard’s campus, is the real culprit. Schools often hire companies to handle dining halls and custodial services because they don’t get enough funding from federal, state and local governments. Education reporter Lauren Lumpkin and producer Jordan-Marie Smith report on the relationship between universities and the private companies managing their housing — and the students who say those relationships need to end.

Plus later in the show, national health reporter Dan Diamond explains what President Biden’s administration plans to do about the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

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