Sean "Puffy" Combs Gives Alma Mater Its Props

Black Issues in Higher Education, April 1, 1999

WASHINGTON -- What do recording artist and producer Sean "Puffy" Combs and Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid have in common? Both were among the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recipients at Howard University's 1999 Charter Day gala, held last month. Combs, who is considered a Howard alumnus even though he left the university in good academic standing after two years of study to pursue a career in the music industry, marked the occasion by donating $500,000 to support an endowed scholarship named after him and his mother, Janice Combs.

The Charter Day activities raised a total of $2.4 million. Other honorees included Dr. Charles DeWitt Watts, a North Carolina surgeon, and Washington D.C. Councilwoman Linda W. Cropp. Howard President H. Patrick Swygert and dancer/ choreographer/producer Debbie Allen, who is a Howard alumna, presided over the presentation of Combs' award.