Howard University Students Occupy Administration Building for Nine Days Over Financial Aid Scandal

The financial aid scandal at Howard University continues to sweep the nation. On March 27, anonymous writer “Veritas 1867” used Medium, an online site used to read, write, and interact with stories, to post a bombshell report claiming a $1 million financial aid embezzlement scandal took place at Howard University. This incident allegedly took place between 2013 and 2017.

The anonymous writer also mentioned that Howard University President, Wayne Frederick, and other university officials have known about this scandal since May 2017. According to Frederick, six university employees were fired last year after an internal investigation that found the financial aid office wrongly distributed university-based grants to a handful of university employees.

Prime suspects Brian Johnson, the former associate director of financial aid, and Tyrone Hankerson Jr., a law student at the university, are both receiving repercussions as a result of the fraud. Set to graduate in May, Hankerson allegedly received about $429,612 in grants and numerous scholarships during his undergraduate and graduate career at Howard. From 2011 to 2015, as an undergraduate student, he worked as an assistant in the university’s financial aid office.

Hankerson allegedly received over $200,000 in grants and scholarships along with other financial aid awards and extensive stipends from the Office of Student Life & Activities and the Student Employment Program. The cost to attend this private university in 2017-2018 is about $43,501 including tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees.

Once the news broke loose, the Hankerson incident immediately went viral. Overnight, his name was already trending on Twitter paired with memes under #Tyrone and #FinesseGod. Before deleting his personal social media, Hankerson’s pages featured him with fur coats, luxury cars, designer clothes, and even his own “personal photographers,” as some say. Howard students are outraged at the apparent wealth a graduate student has accrued under suspect circumstances.

“The Tyrone Hankerson situation upsets me to the core bc there has been MANY times during my dealings w/ Howard I sat up at night & cried HARD bc financial aid played w/ my livelihood. Yet, dude got a smooth $430K w/o being noticed. I want reparations,” tweeted one student.

Roughly 400 students protested with the group “HU Resist,” following the financial aid embezzlement scandal. After their nine day sit-in at Howard University administration building on Friday, April 6, student protesters finally got the board of trustees and administration to let their voice be heard in university decisions.

Hankerson is currently suing Howard University for $10 million, accusing the institution of failure to protect his financial documents, which were illegally leaked. Hankerson denies the allegations against him.

This past Friday also included Hankerson’s lawsuit against the university that was set to be filed in the D.C. Superior Court. The university has yet to release the results of their independent investigation involving the financial aid scandal.