Despite rainy weather, Howard University's homecoming on Saturday drew alumni, celebrities, fans and crowds of students, including a significant number of people from the AU community.
The football game between Howard and North Carolina A&T and the post-game celebrations ended nine days of homecoming festivities held on the campus of the predominantly black 7,500-student university in Northwest D.C.
Other activities included a yard festival, where vendors sold T-shirts and food, a fashion show, a gospel concert, a reggae concert, a Mr. and Mrs. Howard pageant and a parade.
At the football game, Howard crushed A&T in a 16-0 win. Later, during the step show, where students step and move in synchronization to music, the Howard chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the combined chapters of AU, The University of the District of Columbia, Georgetown and George Washington University's Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity took home the titles of ultimate female and male steppers.
Celebrities like P. Diddy and Usher hosted parties at popular nightclubs in the D.C. area over the weekend. Howard's homecoming and its after-parties have recently been made popular by the Ludacris song "Pimpin' All Over the World."
Brittany Thompson, a sophomore in the School of Communication, was one AU student who attended the festivities. Thompson said the reason she attended Howard's homecoming was not because of any of shortcomings on AU's part, but because it is a social event within the black community.
"AU is what it is, and I'm happy to be close enough to go to the homecoming, but far enough to go back to a place that isn't all my kind," Thompson said. "Howard's homecoming is just one of those social things that connect you with your people, nothing more, nothing less"
