WASHINGTON — The Howard University Step Team earned its first win of the 2019-20 academic year at the 9^th Annual Hit ‘Em With the Beats Step Competition, hosted by the Princeton Highsteppers’ of Princeton University.

With an average score of 86/100, the team secured its fourth victory at the competition, defeating Ladies of Elegance of Temple University, UConn All Stars of University of Connecticut, and Cadence Step Team of Stonybrook University.

“I’m glad that so many new members were able to have this experience,” says Chidera Onwunaka, junior and vice president of the Howard University Step Team. “The process of creating and learning a show was new to most of the members competing, so the fact that we were able to secure a win is a testament of how hard the team worked over the last four weeks. It was an amazing bonding experience for all of us, and something that we will always remember.”

The competition team of 17 steppers, including 12 first-year members, performed an 8-minute show inspired by the 2000 comedy movie Bring It On. Practices for the competition began on October 14, 2019, giving them four weeks to learn and perfect the show.



“I’m new to the team and have never done a step show before, so I was very nervous about how it would go,” says freshman Alaycia Whitacker.  “My teammates and I put in a lot of work over the past month to get ready. I’m proud of that the fact that we were able to represent Howard in the way we did, especially at a school as prestigious as Princeton.”

This is the team’s sixth time competing at Princeton University. The organization is led by Anaya Davis, president; Onwunaka, vice president; Amari Stewart, treasurer; and Tanda Lamb, secretary. This show was directed by Ashon Mask (Class of ’16), performance coordinator. 

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About the Howard University Step Team

The Howard University Step Team was founded in 2007, to exemplify the principles of leadership, excellence, truth, and service though stepping as a performance discipline. By being dedicated to these principles, our members constantly excel academically, socially, and in all performance settings. Ranking as one of the top five collegiate step teams in the nation, the Howard University Step Team represents Howard University on a local and national scale. Through performance and community outreach, we promote and encourage global and servant leadership. 

The Howard University Step Team has several accolades including being the first non-Greek step organization at a Historically Black College or University; founding a step team at the Howard University Middle School for Mathematics and Science Squared; and winning first place at several different step competitions including St. John's University's 2017 Step Hard or Go Home competition and being 2016 and 2015 back-to-back champions at Princeton University.

For more information, please contact misha.cornelius@howard.edu.