Howard University#Notable alumni

File:Oliver Otis Howard.jpg]]

File:Howard Univ., Washington, D.C., ca. 1900 - main building, exterior LCCN2001705789.tif

Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, members of the First Congregational Society of Washington considered establishing a theological seminary for the education of black clergymen. Within a few weeks, the project expanded to include a provision for establishing a university. Within two years, the university consisted of the colleges of liberal arts and medicine. The new institution was named for General Oliver Otis Howard, a Civil War hero who was both the founder of the university and, at the time, commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. Howard later served as president of the university from 1869 to 1874.{{cite web |url=http://www.howard.edu/explore/history.htm |title=Brief History of Howard University |publisher=Howard.edu |access-date=October 19, 2009|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117120246/http://www.howard.edu/explore/history.htm|archive-date=January 17, 2015}}{{cite journal |title=The Semi-Centennial of Howard University |journal=Howard University Record |date=March 1916 |volume=10 |issue=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/howardunivers16howa/mode/2up}}

The U.S. Congress chartered Howard on March 2, 1867, and much of its early funding came from endowment, private benefaction and tuition. (In the 20th and 21st centuries, an annual congressional appropriation, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, funds Howard University and Howard University Hospital.){{cite web |url=https://www2.ed.gov/programs/howard/index.html |title=U.S. Department of Education funding of Howard University|date=April 22, 2014}}

Many improvements were made on campus. Howard Hall was renovated and made a dormitory for women.{{Cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/94/9403/woodson.html |title=February 7, 1994 |website=Library of Congress Information Bulletin}}

From 1926 to 1960, preacher Mordecai Wyatt Johnson was Howard University's first African-American president.{{cite web |url=https://blackamericaweb.com/2013/12/18/little-known-black-history-fact-howard-university/ |title=Little Known Black History Fact: Howard University |date=December 18, 2013 |publisher=Black America Web |language=en |access-date=March 15, 2019}}

The Great Depression years of the 1930s brought hardship to campus. Despite appeals from Eleanor Roosevelt, Howard saw its budget cut below Hoover administration levels during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.{{cite journal |jstor= 2717406|title= Howard University and the Federal Government During the Presidential Administrations of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1928-1945|journal= The Journal of Negro History|volume= 76|issue= 1/4|pages= 1–20|last1= Muse|first1= Clifford L.|year= 1991|doi= 10.1086/JNHv76n1-4p1|s2cid= 149933299|authorlink=Clifford149933299}}

In the 1930s, Howard University still had segregated student housing.{{cite book |last=Warren |first=Wini |date=1999 |title=Black Women Scientists in the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75bnncOVqEIC&pg=PA35 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=35 |isbn=9780253336033}}{{cite web |url=http://acampusdivided.umn.edu/index.php/essay/segregated-student-housing/ |title=Segregated Student Housing and the Activists Who Defeated It |author= |date=2017 |website=umn.edu |publisher=University of Minnesota |access-date=July 11, 2020}}

File:Howard University, Washington, D.C LCCN2010641978.tif

Howard University played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement on a number of occasions. Alain Locke, chair of the Department of Philosophy and first African American Rhodes Scholar, authored The New Negro (1925), which helped to usher in the Harlem Renaissance.{{Cite web|url=http://www.africawithin.com/bios/alain_locke.htm|title=Alain Locke|website=www.africawithin.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413075842/http://www.africawithin.com/bios/alain_locke.htm |archive-date=13 April 2009 |url-status=usurped}} Ralph Bunche, the first Nobel Peace Prize winner of African descent, served as chair of the Department of Political Science.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1950/bunche/biographical/|title=The Nobel Peace Prize 1950|website=NobelPrize.org}} Beginning in 1942, Howard University students pioneered the "stool-sitting" technique of occupying stools at a local cafeteria which denied service to African Americans, blocking other customers waiting for service.{{cite web |url=https://snccdigital.org/events/pauli-murray-organizes-howard-student-sit-ins/|title=April 1943 Pauli Murray organizes Howard student sit-ins|website=SNCC Digital Gateway}} This tactic was to play a prominent role in the later Civil Rights Movement. By January 1943, students had begun to organize regular sit-ins and pickets around Washington, D.C. at cigar stores and cafeterias which refused to serve them because of their race. These protests continued until the fall of 1944.{{cite journal |journal=The Crisis |date= November 1944 |last= Murray |first= Pauli |author-link= Pauli Murray |title= A Blueprint for First Class Citizenship}} reprinted in {{cite book |last1=Carson |first1=Clayborne |author-link1=Clayborne Carson |last2=Garrow |first2=David J. |author-link2=David J. Garrow |last3=Kovach |first3=Bill |author-link3=Bill Kovach |title=Reporting Civil Rights: American journalism, 1941–1963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9j8OAQAAMAAJ |access-date=September 13, 2011 |year=2003 |publisher=Library of America |pages=62–67|isbn=9781931082280 }}

Stokely Carmichael, also known as Kwame Ture, a student in the Department of Philosophy and the Howard University School of Divinity, coined the term "Black Power" and worked in Lowndes County, Alabama as a voting rights activist.{{Cite web|url=http://www.trinicenter.com/historicalviews/kwame.htm|title=TriniView.com - Stokely Carmichael or Kwame Ture|website=www.trinicenter.com}} Historian Rayford Logan served as chair of the Department of History.{{cite web |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/logan-rayford-1897-1982/|title=Rayford W. Logan (1897–1982)|website=blackpast.org|access-date=February 11, 2017|date=January 21, 2007}} E. Franklin Frazier served as chair of the Department of Sociology.{{cite web |url=http://www.naswdc.org/diversity/black_history/2005/frazier.asp |title=Information on Edward Franklin Frazier |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928185833/http://www.naswdc.org/diversity/black_history/2005/frazier.asp |archive-date=September 28, 2007}} Sterling Allen Brown served as chair of the Department of English.

The first sitting president to speak at Howard was Calvin Coolidge in 1924. His graduation speech was entitled, "The Progress of a People", and highlighted the accomplishments to date of African-Americans since the Civil War. His concluding thought was, "We can not go out from this place and occasion without refreshment of faith and renewal of confidence that in every exigency our Negro fellow citizens will render the best and fullest measure of service whereof they are capable."{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=24186|title=Calvin Coolidge: Address at Howard University: "The Progress of a People"|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=November 27, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031329/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=24186|url-status=dead}}

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a speech to the graduating class at Howard, where he outlined his plans for civil rights legislation and endorsed aggressive affirmative action to combat the effects of years of segregation of blacks from the nation's economic opportunities.{{cite web |url=http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/selected-speeches/1965/06-04-1965.html |title=Commencement Address at Howard University: "To Fulfill These Rights", June 4, 1965 |website=LBJ Presidential Library |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026172236/http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/selected-speeches/1965/06-04-1965.html |archive-date=October 26, 2019}} At the time, the voting rights bill was still pending in the House of Representatives.{{cite web |last=Johnson|first=Lyndon B.|title=To Fulfill These Rights|url=https://www.whatsoproudlywehail.org/curriculum/the-american-calendar/to-fulfill-these-rights|publisher=What So Proudly We Hail|access-date=February 12, 2013 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108074133/https://www.whatsoproudlywehail.org/curriculum/the-american-calendar/to-fulfill-these-rights|archive-date=November 8, 2018}}

File:Howard University School of Law.jpg is one of the oldest law schools in the United States.]]

In 1975, the historic Freedman's Hospital closed after 112 years of use as Howard University College of Medicine's primary teaching hospital. Howard University Hospital opened that same year and continues to be used as HUCM's primary teaching hospital, with service to the surrounding community.

Also in 1975, Jeanne Sinkford became the first female dean of any American dental school when she was appointed as the dean of Howard University's school of dentistry.{{cite web |url=http://www.cda.org/page/Library/cda_member/pubs/journal/jour0602/hyson.html |title=June 2002 CDA Journal - Feature Article, Copyright 2002 Journal of the California Dental Association |publisher=Cda.org |access-date=August 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928181315/http://www.cda.org/page/Library/cda_member/pubs/journal/jour0602/hyson.html |archive-date=September 28, 2011}}

In 1989, Howard gained national attention when students rose up in protest against the appointment of then-Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater as a new member of the university's board of trustees. Student activists disrupted Howard's 122nd-anniversary celebrations, and eventually occupied the university's administration building.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957283,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106011634/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957283,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2007 |title=Saying No to Lee Atwater |publisher=Time Warner |magazine=Time |first=Alessandra |last=Stanley |author2=Jacob V. Lamar |date=March 20, 1989}} Within days, both Atwater and Howard's President, James E. Cheek, resigned.

In April 2007, the head of the faculty senate called for the ouster of Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert, saying the school was in a state of crisis, and it was time to end "an intolerable condition of incompetence and dysfunction at the highest level."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902184.html |title=Ouster Sought of Howard President |author1=Susan Kinzie |author2=Keith L. Alexander |date=March 10, 2007 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 13, 2010}} This came on the heels of several criticisms of Howard University and its management. The following month, Swygert announced he would retire in June 2008.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/20/AR2007052001567.html |title=Howard University |date=May 21, 2007 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 13, 2010}} The university announced in May 2008 that Sidney Ribeau of Bowling Green State University would succeed Swygert as president.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050701676.html |title=Bowling Green President Named to Top Position |last=Strauss |first=Valerie |date=May 8, 2008 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 13, 2010}} Ribeau appointed a Presidential Commission on Academic Renewal to conduct a year-long self-evaluation that resulted in reducing or closing 20 out of 171 academic programs.{{cite news |title=Howard prepares for test of its future |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 14, 2010 |first=Daniel |last=de Vise |page=B1}} For example, they proposed closing the undergraduate philosophy major and African studies major.

File:The Interdisciplinary Research Building.jpg

Six years later, in 2013, university insiders again alleged the university was in crisis. In April, the vice chairwoman of the university's board of trustees wrote a letter to her colleagues harshly criticizing the university's president and calling for a vote of no confidence; her letter was subsequently obtained by the media where it drew national headline.{{cite journal |url=http://chronicle.com/article/In-Ominous-Letter-a-Trustee/139689/ |title=In Ominous Letter, a Trustee Blasts Howard U.'s President and Board Chair |author=Jack Stripling |journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education |date=June 7, 2013 |access-date=July 2, 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-trustee-says-university-in-trouble/2013/06/07/dd638980-cfab-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html |title=Howard trustee says university in 'trouble' |author=Nick Anderson |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 7, 2013 |access-date=July 2, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020075627/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-06-07/local/39811315_1_howard-s-colleges-board-chairman |archive-date=October 20, 2013}} Two months later, the university's Council of Deans alleged "fiscal mismanagement is doing irreparable harm," blaming the university's senior vice president for administration, chief financial officer and treasurer and asking for his dismissal.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-academic-deans-allege-fiscal-mismanagement/2013/07/01/ecd78f90-e0d8-11e2-8ae9-5db15d3c0fca_story.html |title=Howard academic deans allege 'fiscal mismanagement' |author=Nick Anderson |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 1, 2013 |access-date=July 2, 2013}} In October, the faculty voted no confidence in the university's board of trustees executive committee, two weeks after university president Sidney A. Ribeau announced he would retire at the end of the year.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-faculty-group-votes-no-confidence-in-key-board-of-trustees-committee/2013/10/16/f94f6dc0-3686-11e3-80c6-7e6dd8d22d8f_story.html |title=Howard faculty group votes no confidence in key Board of Trustees committee |author=Nick Anderson |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 16, 2013 |access-date=October 18, 2013}} On October 1, the Board of Trustees named Wayne A. I. Frederick interim president.{{cite web |url=http://www.howard.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/2013101LetterFromChairmanBarryRand.html |title=Howard University Press Release |publisher=Howard University |date=October 1, 2013 |access-date=November 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115005433/http://www.howard.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/2013101LetterFromChairmanBarryRand.html |archive-date=November 15, 2013}} In July 2014 Howard's Board of Trustees named Frederick as the school's 17th president.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/wayne-frederick-named-president-of-howard-university/2014/07/22/8d399570-11a0-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html |title=Wayne A.I. Frederick named 17th president of Howard University |author1=Emma Brown |author2=Wesley Robinson |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 22, 2014 |access-date=July 23, 2013}}

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In May 2016, President Barack Obama delivered a commencement address at Howard University encouraging the graduates to become advocates for racial change and to prepare for future challenges.{{cite news|last=Rhodan|first=Maya|url=https://time.com/4322109/president-obama-howard-university-graduation-speech/|title=President Obama Strikes Hopeful Tone in Howard University Commencement Speech|date=May 7, 2016|access-date=March 12, 2019|language=en|magazine=Time}}

In 2018, nearly 1,000 students held a sit-in demanding injunction over the administration's use of funding, after a Medium post revealed that six university employees had been fired for "double dipping" financial aid and tuition remission. The university had discovered the fraud the previous year, but had not publicly disclosed the loss; 131 individuals were involved in some form, with the top 50 recipients accounting for 90% of the total, and the five most reimbursed individuals receiving $689,375 in refunds.{{cite news|last1=Kiely|first1=Liv|last2=Brocchetto|first2=Marilia|title=Howard University students demand answers in financial aid scandal|date=March 29, 2018|website=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/29/us/protests-financial-aid-scandal-howard-university|access-date=April 14, 2023}}{{cite news|last1=Harriot|first1=Michael|title=Report Details How Employees Scammed Howard University for Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars|date=April 10, 2018|url=https://www.theroot.com/report-details-how-employees-scammed-howard-university-1825142975|website=The Root|access-date=April 14, 2023}} After the student protest ended, faculty voted "no confidence" in the university president, chief operating officer, provost, and board of trustees.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/04/12/no-confidence-howard-faculty-members-say-in-vote-they-have-lost-faith-in-schools-leaders/ |title= No confidence: Howard faculty members say in vote they have lost faith in school's leaders |first=Sarah |last=Larimer |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 12, 2018 |access-date=May 27, 2018}} The nine-day protest ended with university officials promising to meet most of their demands.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/06/600401378/9-day-student-protest-at-howard-university-ends-with-a-deal|title=9-Day Student Protest At Howard University Ends With A Deal|first=Vanessa|last=Romo|work=The Two-Way|publisher=NPR|date=April 6, 2018}} It also led to an investigation by the Department of Education, which placed the university on "heightened cash monitoring", an increased form of scrutiny relating to the disbursement of student financial aid.{{cite news|last1=Kreighbaum|first1=Andrew|title=Feds Impose Aid Restrictions on Howard|date=August 30, 2018|work=Inside Higher Ed|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/31/financial-sanctions-howard-university|access-date=April 14, 2023}} This monitoring status was rescinded in December of the following year.{{cite news|author=Howard Newsroom Staff|title=Howard University Restored to Advanced Payment Method by Department of Education|date=December 17, 2019|work=The Dig at Howard University|url=https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/howard-university-restored-advanced-payment-method-department-education|access-date=April 14, 2023}}

In July 2020, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $40 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=40000000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to Howard. Her single donation is the largest in Howard's history.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-university-announces-largest-single-donor-gift-from-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott/2020/07/28/e354fc92-d116-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us|title=Howard University announces largest single-donor gift, from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Lauren |last=Lumpkin|date=July 28, 2020}}

In May 2021, the university announced that the newly re-established college of fine arts, led by Dean Phylicia Rashad, would be named the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts for the actor and distinguished alum who from his days as a student in the late 1990s through his death from cancer in 2020 led protests against the 1997 absorption of the College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts & Sciences.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/chadwick-boseman-howard-university-college-fine-arts-1234982110/|title=Howard University Names Newly Re-Established College of Fine Arts for Chadwick Boseman|first=Angelique |last=Jackson|date=May 26, 2021}}

File:Howard University Hospital (cropped).jpg]]

In October 2021, a group of students protested the mold, mice, and substandard conditions in campus residential buildings in the Blackburn Takeover, demanding an improvement in the living situation and representation on the board of trustees.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/howard-university-sit-in-housing-demands-representation/65-2a58cdd0-cb3e-4ba0-8a10-3be985f6038e|title=Howard University students stage sit-in over board representation, housing issues|date=October 13, 2021|website=wusa9.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2021/11/03/howard-university-student-protest-continues|first=Paige|last=Hopkins|title=Howard University students stage sit-in over board representation, housing issues|date=November 3, 2021 |website=axios.com}} In 2023, Howard University issued a $300 million tax-exempt bond to tackle the housing woes,{{cite news |last1=York |first1=Carrington |title=Howard University Tackles Persistent Housing Woes With Bond Deal |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-24/howard-university-tackles-persistent-housing-woes-with-bond-deal |access-date=March 27, 2023 |work=Bloomberg News |date=March 24, 2023 |language=en}} as part of a $785 million investment to renovate and construct academic centers.{{Cite web |title=Howard University Announces $785 Million Investment to Accelerate Renovations and Construct New Academic Centers |url=https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/howard-university-announces-785-million-investment-accelerate-renovations-and-construct-new-academic |access-date=December 25, 2023 |website=The Dig at Howard University |language=en}}

In March 2022, Howard University announced that it will spend $785 million over the next four years to construct new STEM complex, academic buildings to house the Chadwick Boseman School of Fine Arts, and the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, as well as renovate other buildings on campus.{{cite news |last1=Lumpkin |first1=Lauren |title=Howard University announces historic $785 million investment in new buildings, renovations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/03/23/howard-university-new-buildings-construction/ |access-date=May 13, 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=March 23, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Whitford |first1=Emma |title=Howard to spend $785M on new construction, renovations |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/04/01/howard-spend-785m-new-construction-renovations |access-date=May 13, 2022 |work=Inside Higher Ed |date=April 1, 2022 |language=en}}

In 2023, Howard University was selected by the Department of the Air Force to lead a research center on tactical autonomy technology for military systems.{{cite web | title=US Air Force selects Howard University for science research partnership | website=Air Force | date=July 31, 2017 | url=https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3275162/us-air-force-selects-howard-university-for-science-research-partnership/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123214403/https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3275162/us-air-force-selects-howard-university-for-science-research-partnership/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 23, 2023 | access-date=January 30, 2023}}

In February 2025, Howard University became the first HBCU to achieve Research One (R1) Carnegie Classification.{{cite web | url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/institutions/hbcus/article/15737390/howard-university-makes-history-as-first-hbcu-to-achieve-top-research-status | title=Howard University Makes History as First HBCU to Achieve Top Research Status | date=February 13, 2025 }}

File:Howard University Washington DC - Founders Library.jpg.]]

The {{convert|256|acre|km2 sqmi|adj=on}} campus, often referred to as "The Mecca", is in northwest Washington, D. C.{{cite web |url=http://www.howard.edu/facts/facts.pdf |title=Howard Facts 2009 (PDF) |access-date=September 10, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325165727/http://www.howard.edu/facts/facts.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009}}

Major improvements, additions and changes occurred at the school in the aftermath of World War I. New buildings were built under the direction of architect Albert Cassell.{{cite journal |title=Howard University and The Federal Government During The Presidential Administrations of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1928–1945 | author=Clifford L. Muse Jr. |journal=The Journal of Negro History |year=1991 |pages=1–20 |publisher=Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Inc. |jstor=2717406 |volume=76 |issue=1/4|doi=10.1086/JNHv76n1-4p1|s2cid=149933299 }}

Howard University has several historic landmarks on campus, such as Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, and the Founders Library.

The Howard University Gallery of Art was established by Howard's board of trustees in 1928. The gallery's permanent collection has grown to over 4,000 works of art and continues to serve as an academic resource for the Howard community.{{cite web|url=https://www2.howard.edu/howards-gallery-art-among-top-50-united-states|title=Howard's Gallery of Art Among Top 50 in the United States - Howard University|access-date=June 29, 2016|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601222804/https://www2.howard.edu/howards-gallery-art-among-top-50-united-states|url-status=dead}}

File:Frederick Douglas Memorial Hall, Howard University.jpg

Howard University has eight residence halls for students: Drew Hall (freshmen), College Hall North (freshwomen), The Harriet Tubman Quadrangle - "Quad" (freshwomen), Cook Hall (freshmen), Bethune Annex (co-ed, continuing students), Plaza Towers West (co-ed, continuing students), College Hall South (co-ed, continuing students), The Axis (co-ed, continuing students), Mazza Grandmarc (co-ed, continuing students), WISH-Woodley Park (co-ed, continuing students) and Plaza Towers East (co-ed, continuing students).

Howard University Hospital, opened in 1975 on the eastern end of campus, was built on the site of Griffith Stadium, in use from the 1890s to 1965 as home of the first, second and third incarnations of the MLB Senators, as well as the NFL's Washington Redskins, several college football teams (including Georgetown, GWU and Maryland) and part-time home of the Homestead Grays of the Negro National League.

Howard University is home to the commercial radio station WHUR-FM 96.3, also known as Howard University Radio. A student-run station, WHBC, operates on an HD Radio sub-channel of WHUR-FM. HUR Voices can be heard on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Howard is also home to the public television station WHUT-TV, located on campus next to WHUR-FM. WHUR-FM became the birthplace of the quiet storm late-night radio format via its student intern Melvin Lindsey in 1976, named after a Smokey Robinson song and album, both titled "Quiet Storm" and "A Quiet Storm", respectively.

The university is led by a board of trustees that includes a faculty trustee from the undergraduate colleges, a faculty trustee from the graduate and professional colleges serving three-year terms, two student trustees, each serving one-year terms, and three alumni-elected trustees, each serving three-year terms.

{{Infobox US university ranking

| THE_WSJ = 127

| QS_W = 581–590

| USNWR_NU = 86

| USNWR_W = 1005

| THES_W = 201–250

| Wamo_NU = 141

| Forbes = 273

| ARWU_W = 901–1000

}}

{{Div col|colwidth=50em}}

• Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture
• Howard University College of Nursing & Allied Health Sciences
• Howard University College of Pharmacy
• Howard University College of Arts and Sciences
• Howard University Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts
• Howard University College of Dentistry
• Howard University School of Business
• Howard University Cathy Hughes School of Communications
• Howard University College of Medicine
• Howard University School of Law
• Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science
• Howard University School of Divinity
• Howard University School of Education
• Howard University School of Social Work

{{Div col end}}

Howard faculty include member of Congress from Maryland Roscoe Bartlett, blood banking pioneer Charles Drew,{{cite book |last=Starr |first=Douglas P. |title=Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce |location=New York |publisher=Quill |year=2000 |pages= 111–117 |isbn=978-0-7515-3000-1}} Emmy-winning actor Al Freeman Jr.,{{cite web |url=http://www.howard.edu/newsroom/releases/2012/20120912ActingLegendAlFreemanJrRememberedatHowardUniversity.html |title=Acting Legend Al Freeman Jr. Remembered at Howard University – Howard University News Room |publisher=Howard.edu |date=March 16, 2000 |access-date=July 19, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119031802/http://www.howard.edu/newsroom/releases/2012/20120912ActingLegendAlFreemanJrRememberedatHowardUniversity.html |archive-date=November 19, 2015}} suffragist Elizabeth Piper Ensley,{{cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_3336111?source=infinite-up |title=Denver cemetery's data "very valuable" to state |publisher=The Denver Post |date=December 23, 2005 |access-date=October 24, 2015}} civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston, media entrepreneur Cathy Hughes, marine biologist Ernest Everett Just, professor of surgery LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., sociology professor Anaheed Al-Hardan, journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates,{{cite news|title=Nikole Hannah-Jones And Ta-Nehisi Coates To Join Howard University Faculty|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/09/1014512164/nikole-hannah-jones-and-ta-nehisi-coates-to-join-howard-university-faculty|author=Fadel, Leila|date=July 9, 2021|access-date=August 22, 2022|work=NPR}} political consultant Ron Walters, political activist Stacey Abrams, novelist and diplomat E. R. Braithwaite,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/books/e-r-braithwaite-author-of-to-sir-with-love-dies-at-104.html|title=E. R. Braithwaite, Author of 'To Sir, With Love', Dies at 104|date=December 13, 2016|work=The New York Times}} filmmaker Haile Gerima, and psychiatrist Frances Cress Welsing.

File:Howard University physics building.jpg

Howard offers four selective honors programs for its most high-achieving undergraduate students: the College of Arts & Sciences Honors Program, the School of Education Honors Program, the Executive Leadership Honors Program in the School of Business, and the Annenberg Honors Program in the School of Communications.{{Cite web|url=https://ous.howard.edu/honors-scholar-development/honors-programs|title=Honors Programs | Howard University - Undergraduate Studies|website=ous.howard.edu|access-date=June 22, 2020|archive-date=June 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625171433/https://ous.howard.edu/honors-scholar-development/honors-programs|url-status=dead}}

In 2017, Howard established the Bison STEM Scholars Program to increase the number of underrepresented minorities with high-level research careers in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics. Bison STEM Scholars are given full scholarships and committed to earning a PhD or a combined MD–PhD in a STEM discipline. The highly competitive program annually accepts approximately 30 undergraduate students for each new cohort.{{cite web |url=https://karshstemscholars.howard.edu/about|title=About {{!}} Karsh STEM Scholars|website=karshstemscholars.howard.edu|access-date=January 30, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://magazine.howard.edu/categories/features-homecoming/new-heights-stem|title=New Heights in STEM {{!}} Howard Magazine|website=magazine.howard.edu|access-date=January 30, 2020|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804134835/https://magazine.howard.edu/categories/features-homecoming/new-heights-stem|url-status=dead}} As of 2020, the Bison STEM Scholars Program was renamed the Martha and Bruce Karsh Stem Scholars Program (KSSP) following the $10 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=10000000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) donation from the family's foundation.{{cite web |url=https://thehilltoponline.com/2020/01/30/howard-receives-10-million-donation-largest-in-school-history/|title=Howard Receives $10 Million Donation, Largest in School History|date=January 30, 2020 |language=en-US|access-date=February 8, 2020}}

File:The Lower Quadrangle behind Founders Library; also known as "The Valley.".jpg

In 2017, Google Inc. announced it had established a pilot residency program named "Howard University West" on its campus in Mountain View, California, to help increase underrepresented minorities in the tech industry. In 2018, the program expanded from a three-month summer program to a full academic year program and the name changed to "Tech Exchange" to be inclusive of 15 other minority-serving institutions added to the program such as Florida A&M, Prairie View A&M, and Fisk.{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/static/8771/howard-university-and-google-expand-successful-computer-science-residency|title=Howard University and Google Expand Successful Computer Science Residency To Include Additional HBCUs|date=September 19, 2018|website=Howard Newsroom|language=en|access-date=September 3, 2019|archive-date=June 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628045920/https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/static/8771/howard-university-and-google-expand-successful-computer-science-residency|url-status=dead}} Howard students in the program learn from senior Google engineers, practice the latest coding techniques, and experience tech culture in Mountain View for course credits towards their degrees.{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/03/23/howard-university-google/99518020/|title=Google opens Howard University West to train black coders|website=USA Today|access-date=December 31, 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/article/7931/howard-university-and-google-expand-howard-west-computer-science-residency|title=Newsroom|access-date=February 4, 2018|archive-date=June 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629123246/https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/article/7931/howard-university-and-google-expand-howard-west-computer-science-residency|url-status=dead}}

In July 2022, the Walt Disney Company announced it established the Disney Storytellers Fund at the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts to support creative student projects. The fund provides undergraduate students with stipends up to $60,000 and mentorship intended to help cultivate a new generation of Black storytellers.{{cite web |url=https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/disney-storytellers-fund-provide-stipends-creative-student-projects |title=Disney Storytellers Fund to Provide Stipends for Creative Student Projects |work=The Dig at Howard University |last=Childs |first=Kelvin |date=July 5, 2022 |access-date=July 19, 2022}} In October 2022, the fund expanded to other HBCU campuses.{{cite web |url=https://dapsmagic.com/2022/10/the-walt-disney-company-announces-a-1-million-multi-year-grant-for-disney-storytellers-fund-at-florida-am-university%EF%BF%BC/ |title=The Walt Disney Company Announces A $1 Million Multi-Year Grant For Disney Storytellers Fund At Florida A&M University |work=Daps Magic |last=Daps|first=Mr|date=October 28, 2022 |access-date=November 2, 2022}}

File:Howard Hall, Howard University, Washington, D.C LCCN2010641977.tif]]

Howard's most prominent research building is the Interdisciplinary Research Building (IRB). Opened in 2016, the multi-story, 81,670 square foot, state-of-the-art research facility was completed for $70 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=70000000|start_year=2016}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}). The IRB was designed to promote more collaborative and innovative research on campus.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/04/15/howard-u-opens-70-million-laboratory-building-with-hopes-for-more-to-come/|title=Howard University opens $70 million laboratory building, with hopes for more to come|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=June 29, 2016}}

{{Main|Moorland-Spingarn Research Center}}

"The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) is recognized as one of the world's largest and most comprehensive repositories for the documentation of the history and culture of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and other parts of the world. The MSRC collects, preserves, and makes available for research a wide range of resources chronicling black experiences."{{cite web |url=http://www.howard.edu/library/moorland-spingarn/HIST.HTM |title=Howard History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106005157/http://www.howard.edu/library/moorland-spingarn/HIST.HTM |archive-date=November 6, 2007}}

File:Howard University School of Divinity, Washington, D.C LCCN2011632071.tif

The Beltsville Center for Climate System Observation (BCCSO) is a NASA University Research Center at the Beltsville, Maryland campus of Howard University. BCCSO consists of a multidisciplinary group of Howard faculty in partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Sciences Division, other academic institutions, and government. This group is led by three Principal Investigators, Everette Joseph, also the director of BCCSO, Demetrius Venable and Belay Demoz. BCCSO trains science and academic leaders to understand atmospheric processes through atmospheric observing systems and analytical methods.{{cite web |title=About |url=http://bccso.howard.edu/about |publisher=Howard University Beltsville Center for Climate System Observation |access-date=August 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328105835/http://bccso.howard.edu/about |archive-date=March 28, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://bccso.org/education |title=Beltsville Center for Climate System Observation (BCCSO) |access-date=August 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725060936/http://bccso.org/education |archive-date=July 25, 2011}}

{{Main|Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center}}

Founded in 1993, The Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center's (RBC) mission is to serve as the hub and catalyst for enhancing international engagement for the benefit of the Howard University community. The RBC houses study abroad programs, foreign affairs scholarships and internships, and international affairs research. Most recently, the RBC launched the Global Futures Collaborative (GFC) as a policy engine for greater programming.{{Cite web|title=Bunche Center Establishes Global Futures Collaborative to Drive International Policy Exchange|date=17 April 2025| website=Howard University|url=https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/bunche-center-establishes-global-futures-collaborative-drive-international-policy-exchange}}

Howard University is home to The Hilltop, the university's student newspaper. Founded in 1924 by Zora Neale Hurston, The Hilltop enjoys a long legacy at the university.

Howard University is the publisher of The Journal of Negro Education, which began publication in 1932. The Howard University Bison Yearbook is created, edited and published during the school year to provide students a year-in-review. Howard University also publishes the Capstone, the official e-newsletter for the university; and the Howard Magazine, the official magazine for the university, which is published three times a year.

File:WHUT-TV, Howard University.jpg station]]

On 2 December 1907, Andrew Carnegie granted Howard University $50,000 to establish its first library. Located in what today is the Carnegie Building, the Howard University library operated there until 1937.{{cite web|url=http://www.howard.edu/library/about/history/Carnegie-Library/Default.htm|title=The Carnegie Library at Howard University, 1905-1937: A Documentary History|publisher=Howard University Library System|accessdate=July 17, 2009}}

Today, the Howard University Libraries (HUL) system comprises nine branches and centers

• The Founders Library - the main library -established in January 1939{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-universitys-founders-library-named-a-national-treasure/2016/02/29/75fd4f4e-df28-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html|title=Howard University's Founders Library named a national treasure|newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite web |url=http://www.afro.com/howard-university-library-named-national-treasure/|title=Howard University Library Named National Treasure - Afro|first=Stephanie|last=Cornish|date=March 2, 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://atlantablackstar.com/2016/04/01/howard-university-library-named-national-treasure-to-be-modernized-with-new-technology/ |title=Howard University Library Named National Treasure, to Be Modernized with New Technology|first=Kiersten|last=Willis|date=April 1, 2016}}
• The School of Business Library
• The School of Divinity Library
• The School of Social Work Library
• The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center
• The Channing Pollock Theatre Collection
• The Patent and Trademark Resource Center
• The Undergraduate Library (UGL){{cite web |url=http://library.howard.edu/friendly.php?s=library/contactuss-lib-ctab-8716879-3|title=LibGuides V2: Welcome to the Howard University Libraries: Contact Us|first=Lopez|last=Matthews|access-date=September 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606131848/http://library.howard.edu/friendly.php?s=library%2Fcontactus#s-lib-ctab-8716879-3|archive-date=June 6, 2017|url-status=dead}}
• The Afro-American Studies Center

{{cite web |url=http://library.howard.edu/friendly.php?s=library/contactus#s-lg-box-wrapper-10279377|title=LibGuides V2: Welcome to the Howard University Libraries: Contact Us|first=Lopez|last=Matthews|access-date=September 11, 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606131848/http://library.howard.edu/friendly.php?s=library%2Fcontactus#s-lg-box-wrapper-10279377|archive-date=June 6, 2017}}

File:BurrGymnasium2.jpg (The Burr)]]

{{Main|Howard Bison}}

Most of Howard's 21 NCAA Division I varsity teams compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Howard is one of the five largest HBCUs in the nation with around 10,000 students.{{cite web |url=https://hbculifestyle.com/largest-hbcu-by-enrollment/|title=Largest HBCU in the Nation: Top 10 Black Colleges by Enrollment|date=August 25, 2018}} The student-to-faculty ratio is 7:1.{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/howard-university-1448 |title=Howard University |work=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=February 14, 2022}}

File:"The Quad".jpg

Howard is a selective institution.{{cite web|url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/howard-university-1448|title=Howard University|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=February 11, 2017|archive-date=April 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418173831/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/howard-university-1448|url-status=dead}} The incoming freshman class of fall 2021 had 29,391 applicants, and 10,362 (35%) were accepted into Howard.{{Cite web|url=https://admission.howard.edu/undergraduate/admission-profile|title=Admission Profile | Admission|website=admission.howard.edu}} Approximately 25% of the student body is male, as of 2025.{{Cite news |last=McGrady |first=Clyde |date=2025-03-30 |title=At Black Colleges, a Stubborn Gender Enrollment Gap Keeps Growing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/us/black-men.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

There are over 200 student organizations and special interest groups established on campus.{{cite web |url=http://www2.howard.edu/ |title=Home | Howard University |publisher=.howard.edu |access-date=April 2, 2016 |archive-date=April 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402111359/http://www2.howard.edu/ |url-status=dead }}

Howard produced four Rhodes Scholars between 1986 and 2017.{{Cite web |url=https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/four-howard-university-students-reach-finalist-stage-prestigious-rhodes-scholarship-competition-0 |title=Four Howard University Students Reach Finalist Stage in Prestigious Rhodes Scholarship Competition |website=The Dig at Howard University}} Between 1998 and 2009, Howard University produced a Marshall Scholar, two Truman Scholars, twenty-two Fulbright Scholars and ten Pickering Fellows.

In 2020, 82% of first-year students received need-based financial aid.{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/howard-university-1448/paying |title=Howard University Tuition & Financial Aid |work=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=August 13, 2024}}

File:The AKA Tree.jpg Tree on Howard's main yard]]

Howard University has many academic and social Greek letter organizations on campus. Howard is the founding site of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and five of the nine NPHC organizations.{{Cite web|url=http://www.howard.edu/campustour/life/students/greeks/sororities/Default.htm|title=Campus Virtual Tour: Greek Organizations at Howard University|website=www.howard.edu}} Also, Howard is one of four HBCUs with a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa which is the oldest academic honor society in the U.S.{{cite web | url=https://www.pbk.org/Chapter-Associations/ChapterDirectory | title=PBK - Phi Beta Kappa Chapter Directory }}{{cite web | url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/institutions/hbcus/article/15078761/working-toward-a-common-goal | title=Working Toward a Common Goal | date=October 9, 2002 }}

File:Howard University Towers East (Graduate Housing).jpg

Howard Homecoming week is the most prominent and richest cultural tradition of the institution.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/arts/howard-university-homecoming.html|title=At Howard University, Homecoming Is a Pilgrimage|first1=Bianca|last1=Ladipo|first2=Andre|last2=Wagner|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 15, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://andscape.com/features/best-hbcu-homecoming-spelhouse-vs-howard/|title=For the best HBCU homecoming, it's Spelhouse vs. Howard|first=C. Isaiah Smalls|last=II|date=October 22, 2017}} Over 100,000 of alumni, students, celebrity guests, and visitors are in attendance to patronize the many events and attractions affiliated with the festive week on and near campus. While the specific calendar of events changes from year to year, the traditional homecoming events include the Homecoming Football Game and Tailgate, Pep Rally, Coronation Ball, Greek Step-Show (Howard NPHC Greeks), and Fashion Show. After a two-year hiatus, the Yardfest returned in 2016 as one of the cherished traditions.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/therootdc/howards-homecoming-a-brand-and-a-business/2011/10/20/gIQArxwx3L_story.html|title=Howard's homecoming: a brand and a business|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=June 29, 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://kysdc.com/3397562/howard-university-homecoming-event-lineup/|title=Howard University Homecoming Event Lineup|access-date=May 20, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926041834/https://kysdc.com/3397562/howard-university-homecoming-event-lineup/|archive-date=September 26, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.essence.com/2010/11/03/first-annual-howard-wood-panel-2010|title=Hollywood Goes to Howard University Homecoming|date=November 3, 2010|access-date=June 29, 2016}}

Howard's first official homecoming was held in 1924 and it takes place every fall semester with a new theme developed by the homecoming committee.{{cite web |url=https://wchbnewsdetroit.com/2357572/howard-homecoming-2011-the-people-history-and-events/|title=Howard Homecoming 2011: The People, History, And Events|access-date=May 20, 2017}} {{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}{{cite web |url=http://thehilltoponline.com/2016/07/13/howard-homecoming-committee-introduces-2016-theme-blueprint/|title=Howard Homecoming Committee Introduces 2016 Theme: Blueprint|date=July 13, 2016 |access-date=May 20, 2017}}

Springfest is an annual tradition created by the Undergraduate Student Association (UGSA) to celebrate the arrival of spring. Springfest is similar to homecoming week in the fall but on a smaller scale and with more emphasis on the student body. Springfest events traditionally include the Fashion Show, Talent Show, Vendor Fair, Poetry Showcase, Beauty Conference, Charity Basketball Game, and a major community service event. The schedule of events changes slightly each year.{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/thehilltoponline.com/docs/for_online_the_hilltop_23mar2017_is|title=The Hilltop, March 23, 2017, Volume 101, Issue 23|date=March 23, 2017 |access-date=December 31, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://therapfest.com/rapper-fabolous-hosts-howard-university-high-end-fashion-show-no-limits-for-springfest/|title=Rapper Fabolous Hosts Howard University High End Fashion Show "No Limits" For Springfest - The Rapfest Presents|date=April 3, 2017|access-date=December 31, 2017}}

The Bison Ball and Excellence Awards is an annual black tie gala hosted by the Howard University Student Association (HUSA). A select number of students, faculty, organizations, and administrators from the Howard community are honored for their exceptional accomplishments. This event takes place near the end of every spring semester.{{cite web |url=http://www.whut.org/whut/event/bison-ball-excellence-2016-awards/|title=Upcoming Events – Bison Ball & Excellence 2016 Awards |publisher=WHUT Howard University Television|access-date=June 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605090908/http://www.whut.org/whut/event/bison-ball-excellence-2016-awards/|archive-date=June 5, 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://alexanderjulian.info/blog/2015/5/1/bison-ball-2015-the-concrete-rose|title=Bison Ball + Excellence Awards – The Concrete Rose|access-date=June 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601223237/http://alexanderjulian.info/blog/2015/5/1/bison-ball-2015-the-concrete-rose|archive-date=June 1, 2016}}

Resfest week is a Howard tradition that involves freshmen living in residence halls on campus competing in several organized competitions (field day,{{Cite web|title=field day|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/field_day|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102205146/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/field_day|archive-date=November 2, 2007|website=Wiktionary}} academic debate, dance, stroll,{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Jackson|title=What is strolling?|url=https://jthomasbrandjournostrolling.wordpress.com/what-is-strolling/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215184903/https://jthomasbrandjournostrolling.wordpress.com/what-is-strolling/|archive-date=December 15, 2019|website=All About Strolling|date=June 6, 2015}} step-show, etc.) for campus bragging rights. This event takes place on campus near the end of every spring semester.{{cite web |url=http://www.howard.edu/campustour/life/reslife/resfest/Default.htm |title=Campus Virtual Tour: Residence Life at Howard University |publisher=Howard.edu |access-date=April 2, 2016}}

{{Main list|List of Howard University people}}

Distinguished alumni of Howard University include a vice president of the United States, several United States diplomats and United States governors, a United States Ambassador to the United Nations, foreign royals, seven foreign heads of state, 11 members of United States Congress, a Supreme Court Justice, directors and executives of Fortune 500 companies, Academy Award– and Emmy Award–winning actors, Grammy Award—winning songwriters and producers, two US Army generals, a US Air Force general and Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and Nobel laureates including Nobel Prize for Literature winner Toni Morrison. Additional alumni include civil rights activists and pioneers in the Civil Rights Movement, a United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, a United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, a United States Secretary of Agriculture, a United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a United States Secretary of the Army, a United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce, 12 Mayors of American cities, and three State Attorneys General. Howard University has also produced many firsts, including Roger Arliner Young who became the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate in zoology, Benjamin O. Davis Sr. the first African-American US Army general, Frederic E. Davison the first African-American US Army Major General and the first to command a US Army Infantry Division, Johnson O. Akinleye, 12th Chancellor of North Carolina Central University, Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice, and Edward W. Brooke III who became the first African-American elected to the US Senate, among others. Howard University also counts four Rhodes Scholarship winners, 22 Pickering Fellows, 11 Truman Scholars, over 70 Fulbright Scholars, a Schwarzman Scholar, a Goldwater Scholar, and two Pulitzer Prize winners and numerous other Pulitzer Prize nominees among its alumni. To date Howard University has granted over 120,000 degrees{{Cite web|url=https://www2.howard.edu/about/about-howard|title=About Howard | Howard University|website=www2.howard.edu}}{{cite web |url=https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/article/8821/howard-university-senior-named-2018-hbcu-competitiveness-scholar-white-house |title=Newsroom |website=Howard Newsroom |language=en |access-date=March 13, 2019 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801170401/https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/article/8821/howard-university-senior-named-2018-hbcu-competitiveness-scholar-white-house |url-status=dead }} and produces the most black doctorate recipients of any university.{{cite web |url=http://hbcu-levers.blogspot.com/p/this-note-provides-closer-look-at-some.html |title=TECH-Levers: HBCUs Produce the Most Black Alums Who Receive Doctorates in Science and Engineering |publisher=Hbcu-levers.blogspot.com |access-date=April 2, 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://www2.howard.edu/about/history |title=History – Howard University |publisher=.howard.edu |access-date=April 2, 2016}}

File:Kamala Harris Vice Presidential Portrait (cropped).jpg|Kamala Harris, 49th vice president of the United States

File:Thurgood-marshall-2.jpg|Thurgood Marshall, United States Supreme Court Justice

File:Mike Espy (cropped).jpg|Mike Espy, 25th United States Secretary of Agriculture

File:Andrew Young, bw head-and-shoulders photo, June 6, 1977.jpg|Andrew Young, U.S. Ambassador to the UN and U.S. congressman from Georgia

File:Edward brooke senator.jpg|Edward Brooke, United States senator

File:David dinkins (cropped).jpg|David Dinkins, 106th mayor of New York City

File:Elijah Cummings23.jpg|Elijah Cummings, United States representative

File:Ras J. Baraka.jpg|Ras Baraka, mayor of Newark, New Jersey

File:Toni Morrison 2008-2.jpg|Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize– and Nobel Prize-winning novelist

File:Hurston-Zora-Neale-LOC.jpg|Zora Neale Hurston, author and anthropologist

File:Paul Laurence Dunbar portrait.jpg|Paul Laurence Dunbar, novelist and poet

File:Ta-Nehisi Coates.jpg|Ta-Nehisi Coates, writer and journalist

File:Chadwick Boseman by Gage Skidmore.jpg|Chadwick Boseman, actor

File:Phylicia Rashad 1998a (cropped).jpg|Phylicia Rashad, actress

File:Anthony Anderson 2010.jpg|Anthony Anderson, actor

File:Roxie Roker 1976.JPG|Roxie Roker, actress

File:Taraji P. Henson 2010.jpg|Taraji P. Henson, actress

File:Nick Cannon by David Shankbone.jpg|Nick Cannon, comedian, rapper and television host

File:Gregory Meeks, official portrait, 115th congress.jpg|Gregory Meeks, United States representative for New York's 5th congressional district

File:Thomas Sowell cropped.jpg|Thomas Sowell, economist, author and social commentator (attended)

• A Bridge Across and Beyond by artist Richard Hunt (a sculpture at the Blackburn Fountain)
• Howard Theatre
• List of presidents of Howard University

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Cain, Timothy Reese. "'Only Organized Effort Will Find the Way Out!': Faculty Unionization at Howard University, 1918–1950." in Higher Education for African Americans Before the Civil Rights Era, 1900-1964 (Routledge, 2017) pp. 119–156.
• Dodson, Howard. " TRUM UNIVERSITY, THE NEW NEGRO MOVEMENT, AND THE MAKING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN VISUAL ARTS IN WASHINGTON, DC." Callaloo 39.5 (2016): 983–998. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26776258 online]
• Dyson, Walter. The Founding of Howard University (Howard University Press, 1921) [https://books.google.com/books?id=rwwdn_JcG6sC&dq=Howard+University&pg=PA1 online].
• Epps, Howard R. "The Howard University Medical Department in the Flexner Era: 1910-1929." Journal of the National Medical Association 81.8 (1989): 885+ [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626056/pdf/jnma00903-0071.pdf online]
• Green, Rodney D., and Aisha Thompson. "Streams of racial progress: The discipline of economics at Howard University at its sesquicentennial." Negro Educational Review 68.1-4 (2017): 31–157. [https://www.proquest.com/openview/bc9a926eb40b1abdab364ee8711b087a/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=46710 online]
• Henry, Charles P. "Abram Harris, E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche: The Howard School of Thought on the Problem of Race." in The Changing Racial Regime (1995): 36+. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GpUeYpJoix4C&dq=Howard+&pg=PA36 online]
• Hopkins, Reginald, Sherman Ross, and Leslie H. Hicks. "A history of the Department of Psychology at Howard University." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences (1992): 161–167. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24531076 online]
• Hunter, Gregory. " Howard University: 'Capstone of Negro education' during World War II." Journal of Negro History 79.1 (1994): 54–70. [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/2717667?journalCode=jnh online]
• LaPoint, Velma, and Veronica Thomas. "Contributions of Howard University to social science research on Black children." Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (2006): 173–187. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3701429 online]
• Lindsey, Treva. "Climbing the Hilltop: In Search of a New Negro Womanhood at Howard University." in Escape from New York: The New Negro Renaissance beyond Harlem (2013): 271–290. [https://books.google.com/books?id=VO5zDwAAQBAJ&dq=Howard+&pg=PT446 online]
• Logan, Rayford W. Howard University: The first hundred years, 1867-1967 (NYU Press, 1969) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fkje44kbjaAC&dq=Howard+university&pg=PR7 online], a standard scholarly history.
• McFeely, William S. Yankee Stepfather: General O.O. Howard and the Freedmen (Yale University Press, 1968) [https://archive.org/details/yankeestepfather0000will online]
• Matthews, Lopez D. Howard University in the World Wars: Men and Women Serving the Nation (Arcadia Publishing, 2019) [https://books.google.com/books?id=X_JlDwAAQBAJ&dq=Howard+&pg=PT13 online].
• Muse, Clifford L. "Howard University and the Federal Government During the Presidential Administrations of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1928-1945". Journal of Negro History (1991) 76 (1/4): 1–20. [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/JNHv76n1-4p1?journalCode=jnh online]
• Myers, Joshua M. We Are Worth Fighting For: A History of the Howard University Student Protest of 1989 (New York University Press. 2019) [https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479897346.001.0001 online]
• Perkins, Linda M. "Black undergraduate women’s experiences of race, gender, and class at Fisk and Howard universities and Tuskegee institute, 1923–1960." in Critical perspectives on Black women and college success (Routledge, 2017) pp. 31–44. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rC8lDwAAQBAJ&dq=Howard+&pg=PA17 online]
• Perkins, Linda M. "Merze Tate and the Quest for Gender Equity at Howard University: 1942–1977." History of Education Quarterly 54.4 (2014): 516–551. [https://www.academia.edu/download/66827040/div-class-title-merze-tate-and-the-quest-for-gender-equity-at-howard-university-1942-1977-div.pdf online]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Poulson, Stephen C. Racism on Campus: A Visual History of Prominent Virginia Colleges and Howard University (Routledge, 2021) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NEY6EAAAQBAJ&dq=Racism+on+Campus:+A+Visual+History+of+Prominent+Virginia+&pg=PP1 online]
• Rasheed, Lisa R. "Lucy Diggs Slowe, Howard University Dean of Women, 1922-1937: Educator administrator, activist" (Thesis, Georgia State University, 2010) [https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&context=eps_diss online].
• Ray, Louis. "Competing Visions of Higher Education: The College of Liberal Arts Faculty and the Administration of Howard University, 1939–1960." in Higher Education for African Americans before the Civil Rights Era, 1900-1964 (Routledge, 2017) pp. 157–178. [https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203790083-6/competing-visions-higher-education-college-liberal-arts-faculty-administration-howard-university-1939–1960-louis-ray online]
• Relerford, Jimisha. "Campus Protest and Composition Pedagogy: G. David Houston's Activist Rhetoric at Howard University." Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men 9.1 (2021): 21–36. [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/article/839556/summary excerpt]
• Thomas, Jennifer C. "Pageantry & Politics: Miss Howard University from Civil Rights to Black Power." Journal of Negro Education 87.1 (2018): 22–32. [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/417/article/802677/summary excerpt]
• Zaluda, Scott. "Lost voices of the Harlem renaissance: Writing assigned at Howard University, 1919-31." College Composition and Communication 50.2 (1998): 232–257. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/358515 online]

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