Dear Howard University Community,
Having returned to the university as interim president, I look forward to addressing our alumni and greater community from the pages of Howard Magazine. For this edition, I am grateful to revisit one of the pillars of our excellence, the fine arts, and uplift how Howard’s artists continue to shape the United States and the world.
As an undergraduate charting my path in medicine, I was often drawn to the College of Fine Arts (COFA) and the work of our students and faculty. Their performances were masterclasses in discipline and courage; their exhibits, seminars, and rehearsals — demonstrations of craft, rigor, and love. They inspired me to understand my own vocation not only as a clinical pursuit but as an act of creativity and communion.
After becoming president in 2014, I was blessed with the friendship of our late brother, alumnus Chadwick A. Boseman. Through countless conversations, I came to see how profound COFA was in shaping not only his artistry, but his humanity. It was among the honors of his life to help resurrect the college alongside our esteemed alumna Phylicia Rashad as dean when we announced its reopening. It was one of the great honors of mine and Howard University to name the school posthumously for Chadwick in 2021. The Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts now stands as both legacy and launchpad for future generations of Bison artists.
Artistic excellence at Howard, however, does not reside in one place alone. It also moves through the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and emanates throughout our Department of Literature and Writing within the College of Arts and Sciences. It resounds from corners you may least expect: in the oratory heard within the Schools of Divinity and Law, and in the choreography of our athletics teams, whose performances display poise, strength, and grace. Creativity exists across our laboratories, libraries, sound stages, and sanctuaries. It is the true connective tissue between discovery and meaning.
As we begin a new academic year, I encourage each of us to find or recommit to an artistic practice that gives voice to your unique story. Attend our concerts and exhibitions, read and write boldly, and support our students and faculty creators. May this season be one marked by imagination, creativity, and community.
Excellence in Truth and Service,
Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, FACS
Interim President, President Emeritus, and
Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery
Article ID: 2491