Howard University is Naming Its College of Fine Arts After Chadwick Boseman

Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman who passed away from colon cancer last year, is being honoured by a college in the U.S.

Howard University in Washington D.C. has announced they will rename their re-established College of Fine Arts after the Black Panther actor who graduated from the school in 2000 with a bachelor of arts in directing.

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It’s partly happening thanks to a number of Howard students, who circulated a petition after Chadwick’s death calling on the University to honour him. But also because when Chadwick was a student there, he led a protest against the absorption of the College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts & Sciences, and long after graduating, he continued to engage with the university on plans to re-establish the College of Fine Arts.

“Chadwick’s love for Howard University was sincere, and although he did not live to see those plans through to fruition, it is my honour to ensure his legacy lives on through the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, with the support of his wife and the Chadwick Boseman Foundation,” Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick says in a statement.

 

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The news comes just weeks after Chadwick’s mentor and actress Phylica Rashad was appointed Dean of the college.

Chadwick’s family also shared a statement:

“Chad fought to preserve the  College of Fine Arts during his matriculation at Howard and remained dedicated to the fight throughout his career, and he would be overjoyed by this development. His time at Howard University helped shape both the man and the artist that he became, committed to truth, integrity, and a determination to transform the world through the power of storytelling. We are confident that under the dynamic leadership of his former professor and mentor, the indomitable Phylica Rashad, that the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts will inspire artistic scholars for many generations.”

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