Jazz Howard, Survivor of Miami’s Little Haiti, Becomes Victim Of Black-on-Black Crime in Storrs

STORRS – The Blogster never thought it was a good idea for UConn to go “big time” and turn its football program into a Div. 1-A contender. That kind of program means more out-of-staters getting taxpayer-financed scholarships and takes away opportunities for in-state kids to experience intercollegiate athletics while earning degrees and preparing for the reality of a working life. Now, the Div. i-A status of the team means that coaches can promise every high school senior a chance to fulfill their dreams: if they work hard enough they can play pro football. Wrong, only a tiny fraction of the best become pros. Maybe Jazz Howard would have been good enough. He was smart and lucky enough to escape Miami’s Little Haiti. He was in his fifth semester and listed as an “exploratory” major in today’s Daily Campus newspaper. A witness to the fight that resulted in Howard’s fatal stabbing said it was a violent black-on-black confrontation after a fire alarm in the Student Center emptied hundreds of people attending a dance by the West Indian Cultural Awareness Organization, one of 431 UConn clubs or groups. Jazz Howard, whose interception set up UConn’s victory Saturday afternoon, was cut down on what could have been the greatest night of his life.