Howard University Names College After Chadwick Boseman

Howard University has decided to put Chadwick Boseman’s name on a college and has secured some financial backing from Disney bigwig Bob Iger, according to TMZ.

HU announced on Wednesday that its College of Fine Arts would be named after Boseman, who graduated from Howard back in 2000 and had ties to the higher-ed facility and the college that will soon bear his name.

According to the college, Boseman was one of the few people leading the charge to keep the College of Fine Arts from being folded into the larger College of Arts and Sciences, as he hit the ground with protests to preserve the integrity of the college. 

His efforts, eventually, worked, and not only was the College of Fine Arts left alone, but it is also being juiced up because of the renaming. 

Disney Chairman Bob Iger is heading up a fundraiser that seeks to help pay for a new state-of-the-art facility for the Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts, which will house an endowment in Chadwick’s honor. There will also be a lot of resources for those looking to get into entertainment and/or broadcasting.

Boseman came back to visit Howard U. a few times and even delivered a commencement speech in 2018. 

His widow, Simone Ledward-Boseman has said, “Chad was a very proud Bison — both Howard and Ms. Rashad played integral roles in his journey as an artist. The re-establishment of the College of Fine Arts brings this part of his story full-circle and ensures that his legacy will continue to inspire young storytellers for years to come.” 

Boseman’s former mentor was Phylicia Rashad who has been named Dean of the Fine Arts College.