Howard University students have ended their takeover of a campus building after a monthlong protest demanding university action over unsafe living conditions on campus.

Protesters and university administrators reached an agreement Nov. 15, but the details of the negotiations have not been made publicly available. Since Oct. 12, students had been occupying the inside and outside of the Armour J. Blackburn University Center, demanding the university address student safety concerns after reports of poor ventilation, mold, leaking pipes, pests and mushrooms growing from ceilings in university residence halls.

The issues current Howard students are facing are not new, according to Mohamed Jalloh, a former student at Howard who distributed food and warm drinks to protesters last week while the takeover was still ongoing.

“We had rats, you know, I’m saying — some people complained about mold and stuff in their dorms but it was one of those things where you kind of just lived with it,” Jalloh said in an interview with The Hoya. “I would say that I’m not sure if this is just a Howard thing or not. But the water in the dorm was so harsh that I ended up losing all my eyebrows during the school year.”

According to Alexis Harper, a graduate student at Howard and an advisor to students participating in the takeover, pressure from the media and graduates forced the university to act.

“I think it was, from my perspective, the intense social pressure from the students being there for 34 days, in addition to the physical support that they had of alumni and organizers coming through,” Harper said in a phone interview with The Hoya.

The protest was organized by Howard students involved in The Live Movement, a coalition of current and former students fighting for the advancement of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Black students. During the takeover, The Live Movement regularly posted updates, asked for food and supply donations and streamed live on its Instagram account.

The Live Movement did not provide comment before the time of publication.

Prior to the negotiations, student activists had demanded an in-person town hall with Howard President Wayne A. I. Frederick and other university administrators before the end of October. The other requests included legal and disciplinary immunity for all participants of the takeover and an official housing plan to address the unsafe conditions.

Protesters also demanded that student, graduate and faculty voting power be reinstated to the university board of trustees. In June, the university announced it would phase out student, graduate and faculty voting power from the board of trustees after completing a review, consulting an outside firm and interviewing over 40 campus community members. Now it is up to Howard to abide by the agreement, according to Harper.

Administrators asked students to stop the takeover of the building Oct. 13, warning of disciplinary consequences, including expulsions, according to an email sent to Howard students by Interim Student Affairs Vice President Cynthia Evers. Students who participated in the takeover have now been granted academic immunity, according to Harper.

The contents of the agreement are confidential, according to Harper.

“There wasn’t an explicit agreement reached regarding the board of trustees issue,” Harper said. “Then there are some apparently things going on with housing and the upcoming town hall, but the exact details — because it was a legal agreement — are confidential.”

Frederick said he is pleased with the agreement.

“I am pleased to share with you today that through ongoing dialogue and a desire to hear and address their concerns the student protesters have agreed to end the Blackburn occupation and leave the building,” Frederick said in a video statement.

Harper said it is up to Howard to follow through on the agreement.

“It seems like the implementation — it’s a watch-and-see situation, with how the university chooses to implement the agreements that were reached,” Harper said.

The protests will have a lasting impact on the university community, Jalloh said.

“What they’re doing is incredible,” Jalloh said. “I think that what they’re doing is going to make a change and I’m hoping what they’re doing is actually going to make a difference for generations to come.”