Near the end of a fall semester narrated by controversy and reform, the 65th Howard University Student Association (HUSA) President, Naesoj Ware, released the Phase 1 Report on Nov. 5, 2025. The report details the progress the executive branch administration has made thus far, and according to HUSA’s executives, they have no intention of decreasing momentum.
President Ware and Vice President Payton Garcia hope that their final semester of student leadership for this academic year will change the student outlook on HUSA.
“I would dare to say that there isn’t a perception of student leadership,” Ware said, explaining how not all 14,000 students she represents — between the graduate and undergraduate populations — know exactly who is representing them.
However, Ware and Garcia hope this semester will change that.
Planning for Welcome Week outreach initiatives started as early as June. Programming like HUSA on The Yard, Freshman Sunrise and other leader initiatives were important to HUSA’s mission, according to Garcia.
Such programming was impactful for students like Amari Alexander, a freshman legal communications major from Jackson, Mississippi. Alexander felt especially inspired by the planning and presence of HUSA during welcome week activities.
“I used that week as a bridge to build a lot of friendships, and it kind of inspired me to run for freshman council,” said Alexander, who currently serves as secretary of the freshman council in the School of Communications.
For Ware, securing winter break housing for 22 international students was one of her proudest administrative achievements. Led by Imani Evans, director of the Nontraditional Student Experience Department, the initiative was in part funded by a $48,000 personal donation from Interim President Wayne A.I. Fredrick.
“Student government has been trying to secure winter housing for students for 3 to four years. This is the first year that it’s actually gotten done,” Ware said.
The HUSA executives hope to continue providing historical wins this semester as they aim to implement a 24-hour Visitation policy and bringing back the Metro UPass program. Used by other schools in the D.C. college consortium, the program would give students free unlimited access to the Metrorail and buses. Ware said students can expect a pilot of the visitation policy to launch this Spring, but getting the UPass won’t be so easy.
“It’s actually going to be up to students,” Garcia said.
In order for the school to consider bringing back the UPass, students have to show support through a referendum in favor of receiving it. The referendum appeared on the spring voting ballot in 2023 and 2024, and failed both times.
“We need to be able to prove as a student body that this is something that we want, something that we need and something students will use,” Ware said.
Discussions about visitation and the UPass have been a collaboration between Howard administration and the HUSA Office of the Attorney General. Led by Yoselyn Owolabi, a political science and criminology double major from Houston, the inaugural office helps to draft, introduce and implement HUSA policy.
Last semester, her team of around 20 students worked to successfully restore the student allocation fee, which was unequally distributed amongst benefactors. They also established a case management system within the department of student advocacy to streamline individual student issues.
“It utilizes our resources to talk to the administration,” Owolabi said. After the launch of the form, HUSA was able to resolve housing issues for over thirty students. “It was really exciting, given that many students are affected by this.”
Amongst many other policies, Owolabi hopes to also advocate for more student voices on the president’s AI council, which is actively planning the future of Howard’s AI classroom policies.
“It’s important that students who are in said classrooms have a voice when these policies are being written,” Owolabi said.
As the first Attorney General, Owolabi hopes to create a legacy of accessibility and transparency, encouraging students to share their concerns with her and the office.
“There’s a misconception that people don’t do work in HUSA, but in my office, we work, we get things done, and we do things that are actually impacting students,” Owolabi said.
Students can also expect more HUSA programming, including the return of Thursday Night Live and collaborations with Howard Hustles, a digital catalog promoting student entrepreneurs.
The executives hope that their past and future work will ensure that students can depend on HUSA for help.
“We are really interested in making sure that future presidents expect to provide short-term relief when they are proclaiming long-term promises,” Garcia said. “It would be more beneficial if we focused on ensuring students know and feel like they are at the core of what motivates Howard.”
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson – Philmore
