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 MAY 2015
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 4
INSIDE
2-3
COMMENCEMENT
4-5
EXCELLENCE AT HOWARD
6
AROUND CAMPUS
7
APPOINTMENTS A MOMENT AT THE CAPSTONE
Dear Howard University Community: On June 4, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered the commencement address to the graduating class at Howard University. The President’s comments addressed the plight of African Americans and the impact of a long history of oppression, disenfranchisement, injustice and abuse. As Howard and our nation reflect on this historic event, many ask why President Johnson chose Howard to make such an important, but racially charged speech. I argue, how could the President justify speaking on this topic anywhere else? In the 1960’s, our nation was again at a critical juncture in its history. The pains of racism and oppression and the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement forced a nation to bend the trajectory of U.S. race relations, at least within its laws and legislative actions. The turn was slow; nevertheless, the Movement marched forward. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and, in due order, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, a southerner from Texas, ascended to become our nation’s 36th President. Many African-Americans had little or no confidence that President Johnson would be concerned with their plight. But the work of countless students, scholars, and alumni from Howard University, and many other leaders in the Civil Rights Movement lifted their voice so all would hear. The President was compelled to listen. After passing the Civil Rights Act in 1964, efforts were underway to pass the Voting Rights Act. Two months before the Voting Rights Act passed, President Johnson identified a platform to further push not only the Voting Rights Act, but to advance the narrative justifying why freedom, equality, equal access to opportunity given the painful recognition of the nation’s grievous history against its own citizens was absolutely necessary. It was politics, but it was necessary. In his address to Howard, and to a nation President Johnson said “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains…bring him to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others. Thus, it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates.’” Where else could he go to make such a statement? Only Howard. Fifty years later, the answer is still “only Howard.” In May, we graduated the class of 2015, presenting to the world a new cohort of global citizens, steeped in the history and legacy of the Howard mission and its lauded scholars. Howard still serves as a necessary stop for our nation’s leaders and politicians, because only at Howard will they receive the platform, dynamic engagement from students and scholarly vigor that qualify (and sometimes disqualifies) their efforts. I invite you to enjoy this new edition of the Bison Beat, where you will see a recap of our 2015 graduation and other notable events and scholarly achievements from across campus that occurred only at Howard. In Truth and Service,
Wayne A.I. Frederick President