Howard University: Mecca of Black education

Ebony, May, 2003 by Kevin Chappell

Many Fortune 500 companies, such as General Electric, J.C. Penney, Goldman Sachs and Chase Manhattan, have adopted the business school, agreeing to hire interns and recruit graduates. A dozen or so companies also give the business school $100,000 each year. Striving to be one of the best business schools in the country, the school only admits about 100 students each year. "We have the cream of the crop," says School of Business Dean Barton Harvey. "We want to be known for being tough and innovative."

Howard recruits more National Achievement Scholars than any school in the country. "Howard continues to fulfill its historic mission," Elijah Cummings, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and Howard alumni, said while making the keynote speech at Howard's spring convocation. "I commend Howard University for the values of social justice and inclusion that are the center of [the school's] charter. These aspirations are the true vocation of America."

President Swygert says it will take a team effort to continue the progress. "It takes alumni: They have to feel good about their experience and tell others, and they have to be successful," he says. "It takes the faculty We have outstanding faculty who are competitive in their disciplines with other faculty located elsewhere. It takes students who are here today. They have to feel that they are fully engaged."

Cornell R. Williamson, president of the Howard University Student Association, says he will always treasure his time at Howard. "I love Howard University; specifically I love the students," says the graduating senior. "We are very passionate people. We're here to seek an education and utilize that education, not so much to fit in and have the luxury, items, but to utilize that to help those who come behind us. Just the aura you feel when you step on the campus is so much different than anywhere else you go. As an African-American student, you feel accepted, you feel welcomed, you feel at home. It's a family atmosphere."

Williamson says it's no accident that the university has consistently produced leaders in every field. "When you go to Howard University, you are automatically filled with that spirit that you can accomplish anything. It's because you see African-Americans in every capacity," he says. "It fills you with the motivation. Once you have that inspiration and knowledge that you can do it, there's nothing left but to achieve it."

University officials tout the school as a major research university where faculty and students seek answers to major problems affecting the Black community. The school recently established the National Human Genome Center, the only center of its kind at an African-American university. School administrators hope the center will produce cutting-edge research in the areas of DNA and genetics. The high-tech push by the university even extends to the School of Medicine, where future doctors are getting experience in procedures that promise to shape the future of health care. "We're modernizing the curriculum, the way we teach," says Dr. Floyd Malveaux, dean of the School of Medicine. "We see in the future physicians who will become more independent learners. We want to be on the forefront in technology."