The Hilltop

The Hilltop Official account of Howard University's Student Newspaper. The Student Voice of Howard University Si Metro area.

Located in the heart of Northwest Washington, D.C., The Hilltop at Howard University remains on the forefront of campus, local, and national news. University owned and student operated, The Hilltop, with a print circulation of 9,000 and a daily online publication, is committed to providing critical and enlightening news to the Howard University community and the Washington, D.C.

Reminder: Applications are still open for the Business Manager role! All are welcome to apply. Check out the link in our...
06/08/2025

Reminder: Applications are still open for the Business Manager role! All are welcome to apply. Check out the link in our bio for more details.

The Hilltop is now hiring our editorial board for the 2025-2026 school year!If you are interested in being a section edi...
05/26/2025

The Hilltop is now hiring our editorial board for the 2025-2026 school year!

If you are interested in being a section editor, please apply through the link in our bio. Applications close on June 8, and general staff applications for writers, photographers, illustrators, and being members of our audio and social media teams will open shortly after.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

VARIETY | “I wanna be something. I want to try to do my best to save as many Black boys as I can,” Blake Spencer said. S...
05/07/2025

VARIETY | “I wanna be something. I want to try to do my best to save as many Black boys as I can,” Blake Spencer said. 

Spencer arrived at Howard as a business major, but soon realized his purpose lay elsewhere. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, where the water crisis shapes daily life, he witnessed firsthand the toll it took on his community.  

Now a graduating senior nursing major, Spencer’s journey reflects that of four other Black men, who also came searching for something and, in discovering who they were meant to be, left transformed.

Blake Spencer, Gregory Allen, Cameron Humes, Ireayo Kuku, and Quincy Baker are part of the 19 percent of Howard students who are Black men, according to Howard’s Institutional Research and Assessment office.

A recent New York Times article spotlighted the gender gap, but their stories speak to much more.
The article highlighted the decline in Black male enrollment at HBCUs.

Nationally, the number of Black men enrolled in college has dropped from 38 percent in 1976 to 26 percent today. According to data from Howard’s Institutional Research and Assessment office, 2,002 Black men enrolled in Howard in 2024.

Of the 399 Black men seeking a Bachelor’s or equivalent degree, 185 completed the program in four years or less. Of the 1,001 Black women seeking a Bachelor’s or equivalent degree, 652 completed the program in four years or less. 

“Before you can ask a Black boy to go to college, you have to first help him believe he’ll live long enough to even get there,” Spencer said. 
Spencer also questioned whether higher education should be framed as the sole path to empowerment.

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more on tbe gender gap enrollment in colleges and the
graduating seniors’ journeys to graduation.

✍🏽: Madison Lyman
📸: Afia Barrie/The Hilltop

SPORTS | “I can do hard things,” is the affirmation that Kailei Collins, a track athlete and founder of Perfektly Preppe...
05/07/2025

SPORTS | “I can do hard things,” is the affirmation that Kailei Collins, a track athlete and founder of Perfektly Prepped smoothies, lives by as she juggles the demanding schedule of a Division I athlete and business owner.

Students-athletes don’t only work on the field, but hustle outside of sports as well, capitalizing on entrepreneurship and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities for sources of income.

Collins shared that opening her business marked a significant time for growth and rediscovery, and she continues to share her discoveries with others. 

“Perfektly Prepped is the manifestation of a calling rooted to impact God’s people meaningfully,” she said. “That season of my life not only taught me the importance of being intentional about the life you want to create, but my responsibility in sharing it.

Start-up businesses are just one way that Howard athletes are hustling for profit. Taj Benton, a gold medalist for the 400-meter relay on Howard’s swim team and a notable contributor to the university’s second conference championship, is the newest signee for The IPO Group, a management firm.

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more on the creative ways Howard athletes have made money on their image and brand.

✍🏽: Jori Johnson
📸: Kyle Williams

Hello, Bison family! The Commencement Edition of The Hilltop is out now! 🎓✨ Celebrate the Class of 2025 and pick up your...
05/07/2025

Hello, Bison family! The Commencement Edition of The Hilltop is out now! 🎓✨ Celebrate the Class of 2025 and pick up your copy at your nearest location — or get it delivered straight to your doorstep! 📬

For shipping inquiries, contact us at [email protected]

CAMPUS | Some 3,500 Howard students will graduate Saturday into a global and national environment marked by political an...
05/06/2025

CAMPUS | Some 3,500 Howard students will graduate Saturday into a global and national environment marked by political and economic turbulence. The Bison will be celebrated by roughly 14,000 people on The Yard for the first time in two years, according to Howard’s Executive Director of the Office of University Events and Protocol, Andrew Rivers. 

Actor and Director LeVar Burton, known for his roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Reading Rainbow and Roots, will deliver the commencement address. He will follow former President Joe Biden and TIAA’s CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett, who were the commencement speakers in the last two years.

Despite surpassing the Class of 2024’s 2,508 graduates by 1,000, this year’s graduates are encountering new obstacles. Policy changes, such as President Donald Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and the Jan 20. federal hiring freeze in the executive branch is expected to significantly impact some students’ post-graduation career development. 

Forbes predicts stagnation or an increase in unemployment rates as a result of DEI rollbacks.

Rivers said the ‘The Long Walk,’ a Howard commencement tradition, will return this year. During this process, graduating students walk from the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts building to Founders Library before taking their seats.

“It is that long walk that indicates that now they have achieved what they initially started off to do,” Rivers said.

The ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m. with processional. Comments will start at 10 a.m., and the event is estimated to come to a close before 1 p.m. Ceremonies for each school and college will be held from May 7 to 10, and each has their own set number of tickets allotted to students.

🔗Click the link in our bio to read more on how as commencement ceremonies approach, soon-to-be Howard graduates reflect on leaving the university amid an unpredictable political and economic climate.

✍🏽: Damenica Ellis and Natalie Betts
📸: Cymphani Hargrave/The Hilltop

VARIETY | Fros pointed to the sky, sequins paired with pink latex go-go boots and flowing fabrics that moved with every ...
04/28/2025

VARIETY | Fros pointed to the sky, sequins paired with pink latex go-go boots and flowing fabrics that moved with every step lit up the runway at Howard University’s Springfest fashion show. 

The show’s “SoulScape” theme was a cultural collage of rhythm, retro and revival where 1970s fashion met Gen Z swag. Held in Cramton Auditorium, the show delivered a two-part visual anthology that celebrated the soul, sound and style of the Black legacy of the ‘70s. 

The “Day” segment started with a kaleidoscope of neon greens, bold pinks, metallic cutouts and bright tights as Earth, Wind & Fire and The Emotions’ “Boogie Wonderland” played. 

As the lights dimmed and the music deepened, the “Night” segment draped the auditorium. 

Silhouettes with looks that mimicked artists such as Prince, Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston, glided across the stage.

Models moonwalked in glittering heels, their side parted afros swaying as they paid homage to the roots of Black glam and groove. 

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more about how this year’s Springfest fashion show paid homage to the soul of the ‘70s.
✍🏽: Kennedi Bryant
📸: Paige Kiarie/The Hilltop

The Hilltop Open House — Tomorrow!Join us on Thursday, April 24 from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for our Open House event.Whe...
04/23/2025

The Hilltop Open House — Tomorrow!
Join us on Thursday, April 24 from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for our Open House event.

Whether you’re interested in writing, editing, photography, design, or digital media, this is a great opportunity to learn more about The Hilltop—Howard University’s award-winning student newspaper and the oldest Black collegiate newspaper in the nation.

All Howard students are welcome. We look forward to meeting you and answering any questions you may have about joining the team.

For more information, email [email protected].

COLUMNS | Natural medical remedies have frequently been dismissed and labeled as “alternative.” But these natural remedi...
04/23/2025

COLUMNS | Natural medical remedies have frequently been dismissed and labeled as “alternative.” But these natural remedies deserve to be integrated into modern healthcare, and they have the potential to reduce our over-reliance on expensive, synthetically produced drugs. 

Plants and herbs were humanity’s first medicines. Cloves and ginger have often been linked to treating cough-like symptoms. Similarly, chamomile is used to assist in maintaining sleep.

Long before laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and synthetic medicinal drugs existed, people relied on natural resources to treat illness. 

Many modern pharmaceuticals are derived from natural compounds found in plants. For example, willow bark is used as an alternative for aspirin, and paclitaxel (a cancer drug) is isolated from the Pacific yew tree. 

These examples illustrate how natural sources have guided the development of medicines that combat a wide range of diseases.

The integration of natural medicine into modern healthcare is not about rejecting science, but more so about expanding its reach. 

🔗Click the link in our bio to read more on how columnist, Ananya Hota, writes that despite Western views and medical practices, natural remedies are utilized worldwide and should be more widely adopted in the U.S. healthcare system.

✍🏽: Ananya Hota
📸: Photo courtesy of Diana Polekhina via Unsplash

SPORTS | Paris Fieldings made program history as the first Bison to win the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships ind...
04/23/2025

SPORTS | Paris Fieldings made program history as the first Bison to win the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships individual title earlier this month on the Plantation Course at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Virginia.

At the par-72 course, the Bison placed second in the NEC, falling to Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) by one stroke after a four-day tournament from April 10 to April 13.

Despite the team tying for the closest finish in championship history according to NEC, Fieldings was able to make her mark individually.  

“I played my very best and gave it all that I had,” said Fieldings, a sophomore journalism major and sociology minor from Chesapeake, Virginia. “I was able to at least make history for Howard, as well as have a win under my belt for the Howard team.” 

According to the director of golf, Sam Puryear, the team relied on stability to achieve success throughout the season. Puryear defined balance as each player having qualities that allowed the team to be successful even if “one of [their] best players didn’t play well [that] week.”

In preparation for the championships, Puryear instilled perseverance and relentlessness in his players when faced with adversity, along with a year of practices and workouts.

As he reflected on the season the Bison had, Puryear said, “The women did extremely well” and that he’s “really proud of the ladies.” 

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more on how sophomore Paris Fieldings took home first place at the NEC Championships earlier this month, making history as the first Bison to claim the title. 

✍🏽: Armani Durham
📸: Photo courtesy of Robert Keroack/NEC

CAMPUS | Nearly a month after the race for Howard University Student Association president and vice president ended in a...
04/23/2025

CAMPUS | Nearly a month after the race for Howard University Student Association president and vice president ended in a runoff, the polls have reopened under new oversight.

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more.

✍🏽: Ssanyu Lukoma
📸: Zoie Prandy/The Hilltop

VARIETY | On a breezy Thursday night, Jaden Smith, a second-year graduate student at Howard’s School of Social Work, and...
04/22/2025

VARIETY | On a breezy Thursday night, Jaden Smith, a second-year graduate student at Howard’s School of Social Work, and his friends packed into the dark and humid second floor of famed Washington D.C. music venue, The Black Cat. 

The venue is known for welcoming “the best in live independent music.” Smith and his friends were there to see rapper MIKE and his friends on his stop in the District of the “Artist of the Century” tour. 

The rapper, born Michael Jordan Bonema, is a hallmark of the underground rap scene, which includes his show openers and 10k label mates Niontay and Sideshow, and artists like MAVI and Earl Sweatshirt. 

His music is characterized by laid-back, dense raps over soulful and bouncy chopped samples.

The crowd at the show showed up in fashions similar to MIKE, who took the stage dressed in a “Rodeo” Jacquard knit sweater (that he eventually took off to show a plain white tee) and baggy light wash jeans. 

Elise Gentry, a senior marketing major, Spanish minor from Houston, Texas, wore a comfortable outfit and heeled boots to give her a better view.

“I’m really enjoying the style that I’m seeing tonight from the boys who are out, and it does look like what MIKE would wear. They have some baggy jeans, a cool graphic tee, very put together, giving very Black excellence, very for the culture,” Gentry said.

The show was opened by artist Semiratruth, who mixed vinyl live on stage and sang and rapped over the music. Rapper Niontay followed and got the crowd moving with his set filled with infectious, danceable, fast-paced beats.

The final opener was DMV native Sideshow. The crowd, engaged and chanting “Sideshow!” and “10K,” swelled and filled out the room even more.

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more on how rapper MIKE performed at local venue The Black Cat, joined by openers Sideshow, Niontay, and Semiratruth. Howard students attended, reflecting on music, fashion, and cultural influence.

✍🏽: Afia Barrie
📸: Davis Dailey/The Hilltop

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