HBCU News Spotlight:
- BLEXIT plans an Educate to Liberate Tour stop at Howard during homecoming, sparking campus controversy.
- Students and social media urge nonengagement, fearing the group seeks viral conflict rather than genuine dialogue.
- Critics argue visits could be part of a strategy to limit HBCU autonomy amid increased scrutiny of campus protests.
- Howard’s Office of Student Affairs confirmed BLEXIT isn’t an official campus organization; university can’t engage in partisan activity.
Throughout its history, Howard University has been a hotbed of Black political thought, with visits from political organizations like Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
However, the announcement that BLEXIT, a conservative political organization, intends to visit campus for homecoming has drawn criticism from students and the greater HBCU community.
BLEXIT, is short for “Black Exit from the victimhood mentality.” The group, which was founded in 2019 by Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, says a “victimhood mentality”, or the idea that the legacy of racism plays a significant factor in one’s livelihood, keeps the Black community stagnant in government assistance.
According to their website, the group aims to engage urban communities with conservative ideas about the nuclear family, patriotism, economic independence and uplifting minority communities. Tax filings show the foundation merged with Turning Point USA in 2023, a political action committee that educates college students on conservative values and promotes conservative thinking. Turning Point recently drew attention after its founder, Charlie Kirk, was killed on Sept. 10.
BLEXIT plans to visit Howard University and nine other HBCUs during its Educate to Liberate Tour, which aims to bring “conservative values to life, fostering critical thinking and sparking powerful conversations” during homecoming season, according to the event website.
Conservative influencers, including Craig Long, Stephen Davis, Topher and Savannah Craven, are in the event’s promotion. The organization is set to be on campus on Oct. 24, the same day that Howard’s YardFest will take place.
Many Howard students disapprove of the organization’s stop at Howard and distrust their intentions. Mia Keitt, a junior political science major from Georgia, believes the organization is trying to encourage conflict for media engagement.
“Some people are going to be so riled up seeing them there and the sheer amount of people that are at homecoming means they’re going to get some sort of reaction out of people,” Keitt said, adding that she hopes students take caution in engaging with them.
Many social media users shared Keitt’s precaution. A screenshot of a Facebook post from user Robert Patillo has circulated over social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Fizz, telling students, “Do not engage, do not debate, do not boo, do not acknowledge… they are only there to go viral.”
On Oct. 10, Dazhai Brown, a senior television and film major from New Jersey, posted to her Instagram story that campus security should escort participants off campus, prompting a direct message from BLEXIT’s official account.
“Why should they be escorted off the premises? For discussing? This is the problem with the left. Y’all are tyrannical and totalitarian in nature,” BLEXIT said in the message. “This is a public school campus but because we think differently than you we should be crushed, silenced and treated unfairly?”
Howard University is not a public university, but it is an open campus. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the university is legally prohibited from engaging in partisan activity.
Brown said the message reflects BLEXIT’s reactionary nature.
“It’s a way for them to be able to go back to their following and people who believe in the same practices and say ‘look at these people, they’re aggressive, they don’t know what they are talking about,’” Brown said.
She also urged students not to engage, citing the presence of the National Guard in D.C.
The Office of Student Affairs was not able to confirm whether BLEXIT has requested or received permission to use Howard facilities or be on campus, as the group is not an official campus organization.
This is not BLEXIT’s first HBCU tour. A smaller Educate to Liberate tour featuring Savannah Craven took place in 2023 and included a Howard stop.
A video posted to Craven’s Instagram from the 2023 tour shows her questioning a participant in Florida A&M University’s homecoming parade about their Planned Parenthood decorations and the morality of abortion. Craven, who is married to BLEXIT’s current director, Pierre Wilson, gained media attention after being assaulted during an abortion debate.
Clay Dentant, a sophomore international affairs and economics major from Florida, said he fears that the visits may be a strategic plan to limit HBCU institutional autonomy, given federal pushback to student protests.
“[They may] impose more restrictions on these specific institutions that can’t handle their kids. We saw that with the protests for Gaza at the Ivy Leagues,” Detant said. “They made existing presidents resign due to their allowance of student protests.”
Congressional hearings led to the resignations of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. The Trump administration has attempted to pull millions of dollars in federal funding from various Ivy League institutions over their handling of student protests.
BLEXIT did not respond to requests for comment.
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson – Philmore
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