BISON BEAT
A Monthly N e ws l e tte r f r o m the O f f i c e o f the P res i d en t VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2
INSIDE
EXCELLENCE AT HOWARD
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TEACHING & LEARNING
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AROUND CAMPUS
Dear Howard University Community: In this edition of Bison Beat, we feature the arts and humanities. In particular, the Division of Fine Arts and the Department of World Languages and Culture. For many decades, Howard’s arts and humanities programs have deeply influenced American cultural language and intellectual discourse. Our legacy is anchored in the belief that arts and humanities provide rich experiences that help our students become creative and constructive citizens of the world. We highlight a sampling of programs including electronic studio art, music, visual art and theatre. Last Fall, the Division of Fine Arts was honored by Mayor Vincent C. Gray during the 28th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. The 90-second video montage (above) provides a snapshot of our programs including insights from Trustee and alumna Phylicia Rashad and alumna Taraji P. Henson as they reflect on their extraordinary preparation at Howard and the ability to dream. I also invite you to read about recent events and including the visit by Haiti’s President Michel Martelly and Howard’s national ranking as a top producer of Peace Corps volunteers. Lastly, our Charter Day Celebration will be held on March 7-8. Please save the date for the 2014 Charter Day Dinner commemorating the 147th anniversary of the founding Howard University. The event will take place on Saturday, March 8, at the Washington Hilton. For more information, visit Howard.edu/CharterDay. In Truth and Service,
Wayne A.I. Frederick Interim President
EXCELLENCE AT HOWARD
HOWARD LEADS WHITE HOUSE HBCU ‘ALL-STARS’
HOWARD RANKS HIGH ON PEACE CORPS TOP COLLEGE LIST
The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities recently recognized Howard University as the leader of its first class of HBCU All-Stars. Three Howard students were honored for their accomplishments in academics, leadership and civic engagement. The students were Tyrone Hankerson, Jocelyn Cole, and Vivian Nweze. Hankerson is a junior communications and culture major; Nwenze is a senior majoring in radio, television and film; and Cole is a doctoral student in history. A total of 75 students were selected from 62 two-year and four-year HBCU campuses from a pool of more than 400 applicants. Howard received the highest number of honorees from a single institution. “Our continued success and national recognition is a direct measure of our outstanding caliber of students,” said Constance Ellison, vice president for Student Affairs. “Our students are engaged in groundbreaking research, community service, civic engagement, and our graduates continue to make a significant difference on the global stage.” (Read More)
This year, Howard University was named as a leading producer of Peace Corps volunteers. The achievement marks the first time that a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) has been ranked on the annual top volunteer-producing universities list. “The DNA of the Peace Corps is made of service,” said Interim President Wayne A.I. Frederick. “Howard’s motto is Veritas et Utilitas ‘Truth and Service’ so this accolade really emphasizes the commitment of Howard students and alumni to service.” Howard University has consistently ranked No. 1 on the Peace Corps’ HBCU list, but this is the first time it has achieved a top rank among medium-sized colleges and universities. Since the Peace Corps was established in 1961, more than 210 Howard graduates have traveled abroad to serve as volunteers. The list ranks institutions by number of alumni serving as volunteers overseas. Howard currently has 18 alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers. (Read More)
Charter Day Dinner 2014 Commemorating the One Hundred and Forty-Seventh Anniversary of the Founding of Howard University
Saturday Evening, the Eighth of March, Two Thousand and Fourteen Washington Hilton Washington, District of Columbia
Tickets $250
Student Tickets $150
For more information, visit www.howard.edu/CharterDay
TEACHING & LEARNING
Ni Hao!
Jambo!
Jambo!
Konnichiwa! Ni Hao! Annoyong ha shimnikka! Konnichiwa! Ni Hao! Jambo! Annoyong ha shimnikka! Al salaam a’alykum! Al salaam a’alykum! Konnichiwa! Jambo! Ni Hao!
Konnichiwa! Jambo!
Annoyong ha shimnikka! Annoyong ha shimnikka! Jambo! Ni Hao! Annoyong ha shimnikka! Annoyong ha shimnikka! Jambo! Jambo! Al salaam a’alykum! Jambo! Ni Hao! Jambo! Ni Hao! Jambo! Al salaam a’alykum! Al salaam a’alykum! Konnichiwa! Konnichiwa! Al salaam a’alykum! Konnichiwa! Konnichiwa!
CORTNEY ROBINSON, A JUNIOR POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR FROM DURHAM, N.C., PRACTICING MANDARIN WITH STUDENTS IN SHANGHAI.
Howard Prepares Leaders Competent in Strategic Languages, Meets National Interest
Konnichiwa! Ni Hao! Annoyong ha shimnikka! Al salaam a’alykum!Jambo! Konnichiwa! Jambo!
Ni Hao! Jambo!
Enrollment in strategic languages-Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Swahili (J.A.C.K.S)-continues to grow each semester. In 2006, the University scaled up its offerings of these languages in response to a Pentagon report that highlighted the serious shortfall in language skills and cultural awareness among the U.S. armed forces. The Pentagon study emphasized four of the five J.A.C.K.S languages. The agency refers to these as “investment languages.”
Kenya this summer,” McCall said. In 2010, alumna Nicole Baden received the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship to study Mandarin at the Beijing Language and Culture University and received the Rangel International Affairs Fellowship. In addition to Mandarin and Spanish, she has studied Arabic and Korean. Baden was recently assigned as a Foreign Service Officer in Guyana.
Howard subsequently received a competitive grant from the Defense Department to provide training seminars on intercultural awareness Howard University is one of only two U.S. universities that offers and to create a repository of computer-based language and cross-cul- simultaneous interpretation, thanks to the efforts of German professor Marilyn Sephocle and her colleagues in the Department of World tural teaching materials. Almost seven years later, the pilot program Languages. The Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center is home has taken root and is augmented by cultural exchanges in countries for the Simultaneous Interpretation Unit. The Center also houses the where these languages are spoken. Annoyong ha shimnikka! Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program, a unique partnerJambo! Ni Hao!ship between Howard University and the U.S. Department of State, Alyssa McCall, a senior broadcast journalism major, will travel to with strong support from the U.S. Congress. Founded in 2002, the Kenya this summer for an intense immersion in Swahili. Al salaam a’alykum! Konnichiwa! Rangel Fellowship is designed to bring greater diversity and excel“I just completed Swahili IV and I am looking forward to the cultural lence to the U.S. Foreign Service. exchange and language skills I will acquire when I study abroad in
Annoyong ha shimnikka! Jambo! Ni Hao! Jambo! Al salaam a’alykum! Konnichiwa!
TEACHING & LEARNING
HOWARD UNIVERSITY’S CHOIR AND BANDS HAVE PERFORMED AROUND WORLD AND ARE RECOGNIZED AS A NATIONAL TREASURE. SINCE 1973, THE CHOIR HAS BEEN UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DR. J.WELDON NORRIS, MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR.
FINE ARTS PREPARES LEADERS
special effect artists for TV and Film, industrial product designers, and web and mobile apps designers.
The Arts have flourished at Howard for more than 142 years. The first freehand drawing class was offered in 1871, a few years after our founding in 1867. The Music Department is celebrating its 100th Anniversary, the Art Department recently celebrated its 90th, and the Department of Theatre Arts is marking more than 60 years. Whether on stage, screen, television, in museums and galleries, in concert halls world-wide, and art historical and cultural studies, Howard University alumni, faculty, and even students have made significant contributions—many as award-winning actors, playwrights, choreographers, vocalists, instrumentalists, designers, artists, curators, professors and administrators.
Students learn by doing and experience the many unique aspects of interactive media, gaming and automotive product lifecycle management at Howard. The Electronic Studio Art (eStudio Art) program provides students with access to resources and tools in various departments across the campus. By working collaboratively to develop curricula in various departments within the College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences (CEACS) and the School of Communications, the Department of Art’s eStudio Art program is able to exploit the natural synergies between science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and the arts and humanities.
As part of the 2013 Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) presented a special award to Howard University’s Division of Fine Arts, recognizing its outstanding support of the city’s arts, entertainment, and creative industries. “The Howard University Division of Fine Arts is honored to be the recipient of the Special Recognition Award at the 28th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards ceremony,” said Gwendolyn H. Everett, Ph.D., associate dean of the Division of Fine Arts and director of the Howard University Gallery of Art.
“We provide students with a wide-range of perspectives by bridging both art and science. Our faculty and students collaborate with nearly every academic discipline on campus. It’s truly a holistic approach to teaching and learning.”
BRINGING DREAMS TO LIFE Howard University is truly the place where art meets science and technology. Students are using cutting-edge animation and special effects to bring dreams to life. Howard’s Electronic Studio Art program is preparing America’s future storytellers by offering a curriculum that combines art and technology. This cross-disciplinary program is designed to prepare students for careers as 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional modelers and animators,
- Dr. Tony M. McEachern Chairman & Associate Professor Two notable collaborations are the Interactive Media and Game Design initiative and the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Educations (PACE) program supported by General Motors. The Department of Art’s Interdisciplinary Capstone Course serves as an outlet for students to demonstrate comprehension of skills learned through the core courses of their major areas of concentration.
As a PACE certified institution, Howard’s Department of Art is currently partnering with the Department of Mechanical Engineering and General Motors to work on the PACE Collaborative Innovation Challenge (CIC) project. The department has also accepted an invitation to work on the PACE Emerging Market Mobility (EMM) project.
WASHINGTON’S HIDDEN GEM: THE IRA ALDRIDGE THEATRE Howard University’s Ira Aldridge Theater and Environmental Theatre Space is one of Washington’s hidden gems. Named after Ira Aldridge (18071867), the only Black actor whose name is inscribed upon a bronze plaque at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Theatre is the home and main performance space for the Department of Theatre Arts. Each year, the Department of Theatre Arts presents classical and contemporary plays. These plays offer not only entertainment, but also a forum for ideas and discussion. To purchase tickets or to make a donation to the Theatre, visit: http://www.coas.howard.edu/theatrearts/index.html.
TRANSFORMING THE DISTRICT THROUGH ART Howard University has shaped the public art landscape in Washington. Akili Ron Anderson, a faculty member in the Department of Art, has successfully practiced as a full-time visual artist since 1970. Professor Anderson creates art for the visual enhancement needs of cultural, religious and public institutions. He designs, fabricates and installs stained glass windows, sculptural forms, fine art paintings and theater sets. Among his most notable pieces are Sankofa I and Sankofa II located at the Columbia Heights Station. He recently created the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Centennial stained glass window. It features the first images of women in the historic Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel.
AFRO BLUE CONTINUES TO BE A CULTURE AMBASSADOR Howard University’s premier vocal jazz ensemble, Afro Blue, was formed by Professor Connaitre Miller in the spring of 2002. Afro Blue has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered; reached the top four on NBC’s The Sing-Off, and joined the legendary Bobby McFerrin in selections from his Grammy-nominated VOCAbuLarieS album during the 2011 DC Jazz Festival in what has been called “the finest concert in DC Jazz Festival history.” In 2011, Afro Blue was named Jazz Artist of the Year by the Washington
City Paper and also received the Spotlight Award from the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) for bringing national attention to the Washington, DC music scene. Most recently, Afro Blue received Washington Area Music Awards (Wammies) for Best A Cappella Group and Album of the Year (for their CD release The Best Is Yet to Come). The ensemble evolves as student members graduate from Howard University and new members are auditioned and trained.
AFRO BLUE 2014
AROUND CAMPUS
PRESIDENT OF HAITI: EDUCATION FREES US OF IGNORANCE
Haiti’s President Michel Martelly recently visited the Capstone to highlight the early success of his new program to provide free primary education to Haitian schoolchildren. President Martelly said he planned to build on the initiative by creating new public high schools and teacher-training programs.Martelly has served as president since 2011. The establishment of a universal education system for all primary schoolchildren and the repair of schools affected by the devastating earthquake of 2010 were central planks of his campaign. In his remarks, Martelly said Haiti has restored 125 schools and added technology capabilities to many classrooms. He also said that he was committed to providing Haitians with access to higher education opportunities, including more partnerships between Howard and some of Haiti’s best schools. He said the partnerships would help both communities prosper. (Read More)
HOWARD HOSTS ‘A MANDELA DAY’ SYMPOSIUM; HUGH MASEKELA, LARRY WILLIS HEADLINE JAZZ CONCERT
Howard University presented “ A Mandela Day” Symposium to mark the day that Nelson Mandela was released from prison on Robben Island in 1990. The symposium was part of a continuation of a yearlong campus-wide celebration of the legacy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s anti-apartheid champion and first Black president who died in December. The symposium included a jazz concert featuring trumpeter Hugh Masekela and pianist Larry Willis. Additional artists include the Howard University Jazztet with Fred Irby, vocalist Akua Allrich and Afro Blue. (Read More)
UNIVERSITY NAMES NEW POLICE CHIEF After a nationwide search, Howard University named Brian K. Jordan (B.A. ’82) the University’s new police chief and executive director for safety and security. Jordan has 27 years of law enforcement experience with the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department. Jordan earned a degree in Sociology. (Read More)
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ACCLAIMED JOURNALIST WIL HAYGOOD VISITS CAMPUS AS HEARST VISITING SCHOLAR
The Howard University School of Communications, in collaboration with the Hearst Visiting Professionals Endowment program, presented the 2014 Hearst Visiting Scholar lecture featuring award-winning journalist and author Wil Haygood.The lecture was titled: “From the Haygoods of Columbus to The Butler.” Additionally, Haygood participated in class discussions and meetings with students and faculty throughout the week. He is a journalist at The Washington Post and author of several books. His story about White House staffer Eugene Allen is the basis for the film “Lee Daniels’The Butler.” Haygood was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist when he was a national and foreign correspondent at The Boston Globe. Biographies written by Haygood include “King of Cats:The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” “Sweet Thunder:The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson,” and “In Black and White:The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.” (Read More)
LOCAL STUDENTS GET FREE DENTAL CHECK-UP DURING NATIONAL ‘GIVE KIDS A SMILE DAY’
The Howard University College of Dentistry in conjunction with the District of Columbia Dental Society and the American Dental Association recently hosted the national kickoff of “Give Kids A Smile Day.” Nearly 200 elementary school students from C.W. Harris and Kimball Elementary Schools, who may not otherwise have access to oral health care, received treatments such as cleanings, extractions and fillings. Scores of dentists and dental hygienists volunteered their time to provide the much-needed dental care and education, and facilitate pleasant experiences for the children. (Read More)
HOWARD IN THE NEWS
Washington Post Howard U. makes Peace Corps top college list Washington Ballet performs jazz- and blues-themed works at Harman Hall HBCU Digest Howard Ranks Nationally in Peace Corps Volunteerism Afro American Howard University Celebrates Mandela Dentistry Students Make Kids Smile Fox 5 Law Professor Lenese Herbert weighs in on Dunn Trial The Atlantic WHUT’s 1987 exclusive interview with Justice Thurgood Marshall featured Huffington Post For HBCUs, the Proof Is in the Productivity Diverse Issues SiriusXM Radio Channel Broadcasts the HBCU Experience
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