By DeJuan Hoggard
Five people were taken into custody and charged on Wednesday afternoon during a student-led protest at North Carolina Central University.
An ABC11 Eyewitness News crew at the scene witnessed campus police officers taking down several people and detaining them.
An NCCU spokesperson said the gathering was “an unauthorized rally” and said at least three of the people detained were not affiliated with the university.
Those detained were charged with second-degree trespassing, failure to disperse, and resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer.
The scene escalated following a protest about what students said were unfair and substandard housing practices and other issues.
One student organizer said they were seeking “decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings for all NCCU students; this means housing with working amenities.”
Students also listed other issues and concerns, including mold and mildew in buildings, air conditioning that didn’t work in many dorms and parking problems.
However, the NCCU spokesperson told ABC11 that the rally appeared “to have been organized and attended, in part, by a significant number of people who are not NCCU students or otherwise affiliated with the university.”
Individuals and groups unaffiliated with the university may not independently use campus space, the spokesperson added.
Once tensions cooled, students resumed their demonstrations and then began a march through campus. Students then gathered in the courtyard by the student center.
ABC11 spoke with several students during and after the protests, who said they believed many participants in the demonstration were not NCCU students, but that they still supported the student demands.
Kiya Carmichael and Jasmyne Younger are both freshmen at the school, living in Rush Residence Hall. They called Rush one of the better options for freshmen, but said there are issues with their AC and heating, and believe the school wasn’t transparent about temperature controls in their dorm.
“The way they worded it, they made it seem like we could control it — but they control it the whole time,” Younger said.
The freshmen didn’t participate in the protests, but said it was a good display of student solidarity.
“I feel like it gave us the opportunity to get our voices heard as students, and for the student body to really come together and fight the terrible things that we go through on campus,” Carmichael said.
NCCU Response on Student Housing
The university also issued a response to ABC11 about the housing concerns:
Regarding student housing, on average, 29% of students live on campus within the UNC System. NCCU boasts a higher percentage at 38%. NCCU brought online three new residence halls, totaling 1,274 new beds during the 2021-2022 academic year.
There is a shortage of housing nationwide and the experience at NCCU is not unique among colleges and universities. The university is growing, and we are actively looking for ways to accommodate more students. Even though a higher percentage of our students live on campus compared to the UNC System average, we are exploring off-campus housing partnerships, hosting off-campus housing fairs and helping students understand the responsibilities of living off campus.
As with any large housing organization, we respond to maintenance concerns when work orders are submitted. We have been actively addressing housing maintenance issues. We have a pest control vendor that conducts regular treatment, and they respond to individual issues once reported. We are actively advocating for more state support to address deferred maintenance issues.”
The incident is part of an ongoing investigation, the university said.