MXO ‘The Arts Unplugged’: Howard University’s College Of Fine Arts Is Now Named After Chadwick Boseman!
TheRoot.com, By Tonya Renee Stidhum, Posted June 3rd 2021
Howard University has announced an amazing tribute to one of its most notable alumni—the late beloved actor Chadwick Boseman.
According to the Washington Post, Howard University announced last Wednesday that it will be naming its newly established College of Fine Arts after Boseman, who graduated from the HBCU in 2000. Boseman died in August 2020 at the age of 43 after suffering from colon cancer.
“We are very excited. This is the right thing to do,” Howard President Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement. “Chadwick’s love for Howard University was sincere, and although he did not live to see those plans through to fruition, it is my honor to ensure his legacy lives on.” Frederick also confirmed that Boseman had served on the college’s board prior to his death and had planned to implement a Master’s Class series for HU students.
More info about the renamed school for performing and visual arts via WaPo:
The renaming unites Howard and Walt Disney Co.’s executive chairman Bob Iger who will spearhead fundraising for an endowment named after Boseman, as well as help raise money for the construction of a state-of-the-art building on Howard’s campus. The new building will house the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, the school’s TV station, WHUT, and radio station, WHUR 96.3 FM.
This news comes about two weeks after it was announced that Phylicia Rashad would be the new dean of Howard’s newly established fine arts college. The connection is emotionally significant as Rashad served as a mentor to Boseman when he was an acting student at the HBCU.
Rashad, along with Denzel Washington, notably raised funds for Boseman and other students to attend the Oxford Summer Program of the British American Drama Academy at Balliol College, located in Oxford, England. Following Boseman’s death, Rashad reflected on Boseman via Rolling Stone, describing him as “one of the greatest actors ever.”
As Boseman was a proud alumnus of HU, this is the perfect way to honor him and assure his legacy lives on.
Staff Writer, Entertainment at The Root. Sugar, spice & everything rice. Equipped with the uncanny ability to make a Disney reference and a double entendre in the same sentence.
