Eight students were rehearsing their choreography to a fanfare version of "Happy," the hit song by African-American singer Pharrell Williams. They were rhythmically twirling blue flags, the color of their university. On the other side of the yard, the central garden of the Howard University campus in Washington, DC, technicians were setting up the sound and lighting systems for a monumental stage in front of the historic red-brick "Black Harvard" building.

The week of October 14 to 20 is one of the most important of the school year. Homecoming week brings together students, alumni and faculty to celebrate "the pride we have in our school and its history," said Diva Muanza, who has being studying at Howard for four years.

"It's a major event in most American schools, but it's on another level in Black schools because we take it so seriously," she said, wearing a cap printed with the name of her university. And of the 100 or so Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States, Howard University, founded in 1867, is the most renowned.

Howard accepts around 12,000 students each year, and boasts the highest number of African-American students in the country. Famous figures have studied here, such as Nobel Prize winner for literature Toni Morrison, and more recently US vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Everyone Le Monde spoke to at Howard would love to see their alumna reach the White House. Her victory would mean that a Black and Asian person can "break through the glass ceiling," said Jayla Harrisson, a first-year political science student, who would see it as proof that a "woman can achieve higher things" and, therefore, that "we can dream bigger."

The young woman also anticipated there would be positive repercussions for the reputation of her university and her own career, as she would like to work in public administration. Yasin Ali Abdul-Musawwir, 38, who is completing his final year at Howard, said Joe Biden's vice president is "the better representation of the American ideal" and "a fruit of the labor that my forefathers, our forefathers as Blacks and as Americans" have accomplished, thanks in particular to HBCU's higher education, so that today a Black woman can, perhaps, become president.

Most HBCUs were founded after the Civil War, when segregation prevented African Americans from pursuing higher education. The aim was to educate the Black middle class despite racist laws. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act put an end to segregation in the US, but African-American students continued to flock together. In 2022, 67% of students admitted to Howard were Black, compared to 1% who were White, with the remainder coming from other minorities.

You have 68.97% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.