Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States. It has a Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education status of RU/H: Research Universities (high research activity).

From its outset it has been nonsectarian and open to people of both genders and all races. In addition to the undergraduate program, Howard has graduate schools of business, pharmacy, law, medicine, dentistry and divinity.

History
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, members of The First Congregational Society of Washington considered establishing a theological seminary for the education of African-American 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 1869-74.

Congress chartered Howard on March 2, 1867, and much of its early funding came from endowment, private benefaction, and tuition. An annual congressional appropriation administered by the U.S. Department of Education funds Howard University and Howard University Hospital.

Howard Hall was renovated and made a dormitory for girls; many improvements were made on campus; J. Stanley Durkee, Howard's last white president, was appointed in 1918.

Howard University has played an important role in American history and 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, which helped to usher in the Harlem Renaissance. Ralph Bunche, the first Nobel Peace Prize winner of African descent, served as chair of the Department of Political Science. Beginning in 1942, Howard University students pioneered the "stool-sitting" technique, which 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 at cigar stores and cafeterias around Washington, D.C. which refused to serve them because of their race. These protests continued until the administration asked the students to stop in the Fall of 1944. Stokely Carmichael, also known as Kwame Toure, 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. Historian Rayford Logan served as chair of the Department of History. E. Franklin Frazier served as chair of the Department of Sociology. Sterling Allen Brown served as chair of the Department of English.

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. At the time, the Voting Rights bill was still pending in the House of Representatives.

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 Howard University College of Medicine's primary teaching hospital with service to the surrounding community.

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. 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 that 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.” This came on the heels of several criticisms of Howard University and its management. The following month, Swygert announced that he would retire in June 2008. The university announced in May 2008 that Sidney Ribeau of Bowling Green State University would succeed Swygert as president. 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. For example, they proposed closing the undergraduate philosophy major and African studies major.

On September 4, 2009, 350 students and union workers protested the failure of the financial aid office to distribute promised funds to students. Students also sought a recycling program, technology upgrades and more on-campus housing. Members of SEIU local 32BJ protested the possible outsourcing of cleaning services to contractors whose wages would undercut Howard's union contract.

Campus
The 256 acre campus is located in northwest Washington. 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. Howard's buildings and plant have a value of $567.6 million

Howard University has several historic landmarks on campus, such as Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Fredrick Douglass Memorial Hall, and the Founders Library. Howard University has ten dorms in which students can live: Bethune Annex (women's undergraduate dorms), Tubman Quadrangle (women's freshman dorms), Carver Hall and Drew Hall (men's undergraduate dorms), Cook Hall (co-ed, undergraduate students), Plaza Towers West (co-ed, for juniors and seniors only), Plaza Towers East (graduate and undergraduate honor students), Meridian Hill Hall (co-ed, off campus residence), Slowe Hall (co-ed) and Mays Hall (co-ed graduate facility).

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 WHUR-FM 96.3, also known as Howard University Radio. Howard is also home to WHUT-TV, which is a television station located on campus beside WHUR-FM.

Organization
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 3-year terms, two student trustees, each serving 1-year terms, and three alumni-elected trustees, each serving 3-year terms.

Schools and colleges

 * College of Arts and Sciences
 * School of Business
 * John H. Johnson School of Communications
 * College of Dentistry
 * School of Divinity


 * School of Education
 * College of Engineering, Architecture & Computer Sciences
 * Graduate School
 * College of Medicine


 * College of Nursing & Allied Health Sciences
 * College of Pharmacy
 * School of Social Work
 * (MS)2 Middle School of Mathematics and Science
 * School of Law

Research
Howard is one of two historically black colleges and universities (the other is Jackson State University) classified as a "Research I" tier university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. "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.

NASA University Research Center (BCCSO)
The Beltsville Center for Climate System Observation (BCCSO) is a NASA University Research Center located 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.

Publications
Howard University is home to The Hilltop, the nation's only HBCU daily newspaper. Founded in 1924 by Zora Neale Hurston, The Hilltop enjoys a long legacy at the university, providing students with the ability to learn the newspaper industry.

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.

Mock Trial
Howard University was the first team to win two national championships in the same year, both the 1997 National Silver Flight Tournament and the 1997 National Championship. Additionally, the Howard Team has been listed in the Top Ten Teams in the nation over 9 times and won the 2000 National Silver Flight Championship, the 1998 and 2003 Eastern Regional Championship and the 2003 National Division Title. In April 2006, the team placed third in the nation. Howard University continues to qualify for national tournaments.

Greek letter organizations
Howard University is a home to all nine National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations; however, it is a historic site for 5 NPHC groups. The Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha was the first to appear in 1907. The Alpha Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha (1908), Omega Psi Phi (1911), Delta Sigma Theta (1913), Phi Beta Sigma (1914), and Zeta Phi Beta (1920) were established on the Howard campus. Also in 1920, the Xi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi appeared on the campus, followed by the Alpha Phi Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho in 1939, and the Alpha Tau Chapter of Iota Phi Theta in 1983.

Other Greek letter organizations registered at Howard include Delta Sigma Pi, Phi Sigma Pi, Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Nu Omega, Alpha Kappa Psi, Phi Sigma Rho, Gamma Iota Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, Sigma Alpha Iota, Gamma Sigma Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma and Phi Alpha Delta.

Athletics
Athletic teams compete in the NCAA as a part of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The teams play under the name Howard Bison and use a similar logo to that of the Buffalo Bills professional football team. The swimming and diving team competes under the name "Howard Sharks".

Marching Band
The Howard University "Showtime" Marching Band is under the direction of John Newson and Kelvin Washington. The Showtime marching band performs at football games, band competitions, and even NFL halftime shows.

Students
Howard undergraduates have a mean composite SAT score of 1,082. The students come from the following regions: New England 2%, Mid-West 8%. South 22%, Mid-Atlantic 55%, and West 12%.

, Howard's six year graduation rate was 67.5%. In 2009, 1,270 of the 1,476 full-time freshmen enrolled were found to have financial need (86%). Of these, Howard could meet the full financial aid needs of 316 freshmen. Howard's average undergraduate student's indebtedness at graduation is $16,798.

Between 1998 and 2009, Howard University produced a Marshall Scholar, two Rhodes Scholars, two Truman Scholars, twenty-two Fulbright Scholars and ten Pickering Fellows.

Faculty
Howard faculty include media entrepreneur Cathy Hughes, marine biologist Ernest Everett Just, political consultant Ron Walters, blood shipment pioneer Charles Drew, psychiatrist Francis Cress Welsing, civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston, Emmy-winning actor Al Freeman Jr.., John Davis, political science professor and Roscoe Bartlett, member of Congress from Maryland.

Notable alumni
Howard is the alma mater of several notable individuals, including Ben Ali, co-founder and owner of Ben's Chili Bowl, the famous restaurant in Washington, D.C.; choreographer, actress and singer Debbie Allen; the first Nigerian president Nnamdi Azikiwe; NFL player Antoine Bethea; Congressman Elijah Cummings; actor Ossie Davis;former Malian prime minister and NASA engineer Cheick Modibo Diarra; David Dinkins, the first African-American mayor of New York City; Mike Espy, the first African-American U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; Former Mayor of the District of Columbia Adrian Fenty; Patricia Roberts Harris, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and first African-American woman United States Ambassador; Gus Johnson, American Sports Broadcaster; attorney Vernon Jordan; American television personality Ananda Lewis; Thurgood Marshall, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison; American actress and singer Phylicia Rashad; Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia Kasim Reed; Crystal Waters, American dance music and house music singer and songwriter; and United States Ambassador Andrew Young.

Howard University has graduated numerous public officials, including numerous Mayors, as detailed in the accompanying portrait.