Howard University
Howard University is a
historically black university in
Washington, D.C. Notable alumni include
Toni Morrison,
Thurgood Marshall,
Ossie Davis,
Debbie Allen, and
Phylicia Rashad.
Howard was established by a
congressional charter in 1867, and much of its early funding came from the
Freedmen's Bureau. The college was named after General
Oliver O. Howard who was commissioner of the Freeman Bureau and the college's third president. From its outset, it was nonsectarian and open to people of both sexes and all races. Howard has graduate schools of law, medicine, dentistry and divinity, in addition to the undergraduate program. The current enrollment (as of
2003) is approximately 11,000, including 7,000 undergraduates. It should also be noted that the university's football homecoming activities serve as one of the premier annual events in Washington.
Howard University has played an important role in
civil rights history on a number of occasions. After being refused admission to the then-white-only
University of Maryland School of Law, a young
Thurgood Marshall enrolled at Howard University
School of Law instead. There he studied under
Charles Hamilton Houston, a
Harvard Law School graduate and leading civil rights lawyer who at the time was the dean of Howard's law school. Houston took Marshall under his wing, and the two forged a friendship that would last for the remainder of Houston's life and forever change America. Howard University was the site where Marshall and his team of legal scholars from around the nation prepared to argue the landmark
Brown v. Board of Education case.
|
The first General Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha, held at Howard University in 1908 |
In 1907, Howard University, among
historically black schools was the scene of the organization of the first black Greek letter fraternity,
Alpha Phi Alpha's
Beta chapter, and the site for the fraternity's fist General Convention in 1908. Howard would also witness the founding of the
Alpha chapter of five
National Pan-Hellenic Council member organizations.
Major improvements, additions, and changes occurred at the school in the aftermath of
World War One. In
1918, all the secondary schools of the university were abolished and the whole plan of undergraduate work changed. The four-year college course was divided into two periods of two years each, the Junior College, and the Senior Schools. The semester system was abolished in
1919 and the quarter system substituted. Twenty-three new members were added to the faculty between the reorganization of
1918 and
1923. A dining hall building with class rooms for the department of home economics was built in
1921 at a cost of $301,000. A
greenhouse was erected in
1919. Howard Hall was renovated and made a dormitory for girls; many improvements were made on campus; J. Stanley Durkee, became president in
1918.
In
1965,
President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a speech to the graduating class at Howard, where he outlined his plans for civil rights legislation.
* College of Arts and Sciences [
1]
* School of Business [
2]
* John H. Johnson School of Communications [
3]
* College of Dentistry [
4]
* School of Divinity [
5]
* School of Education [
6]
* College of Engineering, Architecture & Computer Sciences [
7]
* Howard University Graduate School [
8]
* School of Law [
9]
* College of Medicine [
10]
* College of Pharmacy, Nursing & Allied Health Sciences [
11]
* School of Social Work [
12]
Howard University has conferred 99,318 degrees and certificates in its 137-year history. Noteworthy alumni are educators, politicians,
United States ambassadors, writers, prominent international figures, corporate executives, and a
Nobel Laureate.
Academia
*
Charlene Drew Jarvis (Ph.D.), president
Southeastern University*
Lois Pierre-Noel, educator
*
Irvin Reid (Ph.D.), president
Wayne State University*
H. Patrick Swygert, president Howard University
*
Sonia Sanchez, author and poet
Arts, Media, Music & Literature
*
Candace Allen,
Miss District of Columbia USA 2006
*
Debbie Allen, dancer, actress
*
Anthony Anderson, actor
*
Amiri Baraka, author and poet
*
Sean Combs, music producer, also known as "Puffy", "Puff Daddy", "P. Diddy", and "Diddy" (did not graduate)
*
Ossie Davis, actor and activist
*
Paul Laurence Dunbar, late 19th century poet
*
Lillian Evanti, opera singer
*
Roberta Flack, singer
*
Rich Harrison,
Grammy winning record producer and song writer
*
Donny Hathaway, singer
*
Taraji P. Henson, actress (Hustle and Flow, Baby Boy)
*
Shauntay Hinton,
Miss USA 2002*
Shaka Hislop, goalkeeper for
West Ham United F.C. and
Trinidad and Tobago national football team who played in the
2006 FIFA World Cup*
Zora Neale Hurston, anthropologist and author (did not graduate)
*
Toni Morrison, author,
Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate (
1993), born Chloe Anthony Wofford
*
Solomon Mutswairo, novelist and poet
*
Jessye Norman, opera singer
*
Phylicia Rashad, actress (
The Cosby Show)
*
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, actress (The Apprentice, Surreal Life)
*
Marlon Wayans, actor
*
Isaiah Washington, actor (Grey's Anatomy)
*
Tracie Thoms, actress (Rent the movie)(The Devil wears Prada)
*
Kenny Lattimore, singer
*
Wendy Rachel Robinson, actress(Regina -The Steve Harvey Show)
*
Benilde Little, author
*
Paula Jai Parker, actress (Hustle and Flow)
*
Ernest Dickerson, Filmmaker ([Director] Juice, Bones, Never Die Alone, ER,[Director of Photography] Mo' Betta Blues, Malcolm X.
*
Malik Sayeed, Filmmaker ( Life and Debt [Director of Photography]He Got Game, The Original Kings of Comedy, Belly)
*
Vickey Mabrey, Journalist, CNN News
*
Fredricka Whitfield, Journalist, CNN News
*
A.J. Calloway, On air personality, Extra (formerly of 106th and Park [BET]
*
Lynne Whitfield, actress, Madea's Family Reunion, Head of State, Eve's Bayou
*
Lala Vasquez, On air personality and actress, Direct Effect, Total Request Live [MTV], You Got Served
*
Lori Stokes - ABC / Channel 7 Eyewitness News - New York City
*
Ananda Lewis - BET Talk Show Host/MTV Host/ The Ananda Lewis Show
*
Roxie Roker - Helen from "The Jeffersons" - Lenny Kravitz's mother
*
Crystal Waters, singer - "Gypsy Woman - She's homeless"
*
Angela Winbush, singer - "Your smile" "Imaginary Playmates" "Angel"
*
Camille McDonald, model - "America's next top model - Cycle 2"
Civil Rights
*
Vernon Jordan, civil rights leader
*
Kwame Ture, activist, chairman of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), born
Stokely CarmichaelLaw & Politics
*The Rt. Hon (Dr.) Nnamdi Azikwe , First President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1960-66)
*Dr.
Percival Broderick, Deputy Prime Minister of
Jamaica*Hon.
Edward Brooke, first
African-American elected to the
United States Senate*Hon.
Ewart Brown, Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport of
Bermuda*Hon.
Roland Burris, State
Attorney General,
Illinois*Hon.
Robert L. Carter,
civil rights advocate and judge of the
United States District Court,
Southern District of New York*Hon.
Elijah Cummings,
United States Congress*Hon.
David Dinkins, first
African-American mayor of
New York City*Hon.
Mike Espy, first
African-American United States Secretary of Agriculture
*Hon.
Shirley Franklin, first female
mayor of
Atlanta,
Georgia*Dr.
Cheddi Jagan, President,
Guyana*Dr.
Oliver Harper, Minister of Health,
Guyana*Hon.
Patricia Roberts Harris,
United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
United States Ambassador*Hon.
Earl F. Hilliard,
United States Congress*Hon.
John Junor, Minister of Health,
Jamaica*Hon.
Sharon Pratt Kelly, first
African-American female
mayor of a major city,
Washington, DC*Hon.
Keith Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Jamaica*Hon.
Thurgood Marshall, first
African-American United States Supreme Court justice
*Hon.
Gabrielle McDonald, judge
Iran-
United States Claims Tribunal,
The Hague,
Netherlands*Hon.
Gregory W. Meeks Representive for
New York's sixth congressional district in the
U.S. House of Representatives*Hon.
Spottswood Robinson, judge,
United States Court of Appeals*Hon.
Roy Schneider,
Governor United States Virgin Islands*Hon.
Emmet G. Sullivan,
judge of
United States District Court for the District of Columbia*Hon.
Walter Washington, first elected mayor of
Washington, DC*Hon.
Douglas Wilder, first elected
African-American United States governor, current
Mayor of
Richmond, Virgina*Hon.
Harris Wofford,
United States Congress*Hon.
Albert Wynn, first
African-American elected to the
United States Congress from
Prince George's County and
Montgomery County in
Maryland*Hon.
Andrew Young, first
African-American United Nations Ambassador and former
mayor of
Atlanta,
Georgia*
Charlotte E. Ray, the first African American woman lawyer
Religion
*
Vashti Murphy McKenzie, first female bishop of the
African Methodist Episcopal ChurchSystems and Computer Science
*Mr. Jason T. Smith owner and creator of
401m.net*
Moorland-Spingarn Research Center*
List of historically black colleges of the United States*
In an article from the
Museum of Broadcast Communications, the
Hollywood Reporter is quoted as stating that when Howard alumna
Debbie Allen became the producer-director of the popular television series,
A Different World (which dealt with the life of students at the fictional
historically Black college, Hillman, and ran for six seasons on
NBC), Allen, herself,
a graduate of historically black Howard University--drew from her college experiences in an effort to accurately reflect in the show the social and political life on black campuses. Moreover, Allen instituted a yearly spring trip to Atlanta where series writers visited two of the nation's leading black colleges, Morehouse and Spelman. During these visits, ideas for several of the episodes emerged from meetings with students and faculty" [
13].
*
Official website*
University Hospital*
The Hilltop (student newspaper)
*
Howard University Press*
Official athletics website*
Howard Homecoming Official Web site*
PBS*
Overview
