Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States. It has a Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education status of RU/H: Research Universities (high research activity).

From its outset it has been nonsectarian and open to people of both sexes and all races. In addition to the undergraduate program, Howard has graduate schools of business, pharmacy, law, social work, medicine, dentistry and divinity.

History :

after the end of the Civil War, members of The First Congregational Society of Washington considered establishing a theological seminary for the education of African-American clergymen. Within a few weeks, the project expanded to include a provision for establishing a university. Within two years, the University consisted of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Medicine. The new institution was named for General Oliver Otis Howard, a Civil War hero, who was both the founder of the University and, at the time, Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. Howard later served as President of the university from 1869–74.

Congress chartered Howard on March 2, 1867, and much of its early funding came from endowment, private benefaction, and tuition. An annual congressional appropriation administered by the U.S. Department of Education funds Howard University and Howard University Hospital.

Howard Hall was renovated and made a dormitory for women; many improvements were made on campus; J. Stanley Durkee, Howard's last white president, was appointed in 1918

Former names:

Howard Normal and Theological School for the Education of Teachers and Preachers

Moto in English :

"Truth and Service"

Campus structure:

The 256 acres (1.04 km2; 0.400 sq mi) campus is located in northwest Washington. Major improvements, additions, and changes occurred at the school in the aftermath of World War I. New buildings were built under the direction of architect Albert Cassell.Howard's buildings and plant have a value of $567.6 million.

Howard University has several historic landmarks on campus, such as Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Fredrick Douglass Memorial Hall, and the Founders Library.

Howard University has ten residence halls in which students can live: Bethune Annex (female undergraduates), Tubman Quadrangle (female freshman), Carver Hall and Drew Hall (male undergraduates), Cook Hall (co-ed, undergraduates), Plaza Towers West (co-ed, for juniors and seniors only), Plaza Towers East (graduate and undergraduate honor students), Meridian Hill Hall (co-ed, off campus residence), Slowe Hall (co-ed) and Mays Hall (co-ed graduate students).

Howard University is home to WHUR-FM 96.3, also known as Howard University Radio. Howard is also home to WHUT-TV, which is a television station located on campus beside WHUR-FM.

Colleges :

• College of Arts and Sciences

• School of Business

• School of Communications

• College of Dentistry

• School of Divinity

• School of Education

• College of Engineering, Architecture & Computer Sciences

• Graduate School

• College of Medicine

Research:

 "The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) is recognized as one of the world's largest and most comprehensive repositories for the documentation of the history and culture of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and other parts of the world. The MSRC collects, preserves, and makes available for research a wide range of resources chronicling black experiences

NASA University Research Center (BCCSO)

The Beltsville Center for Climate System Observation (BCCSO) is a NASA University Research Center located at the Beltsville, Maryland campus of Howard University. BCCSO consists of a multidisciplinary group of Howard faculty in partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Sciences Division, other academic institutions, and government. This group is led by three Principal Investigators, Everette Joseph, also the director of BCCSO, Demetrius Venable and Belay Demoz. BCCSO trains science and academic leaders to understand atmospheric processes through atmospheric observing systems and analytical methods

Mock trail :

Howard University was the first team to win two national championships in the same year, both the 1997 National Silver Flight Tournament and the 1997 National Championship. Additionally, the Howard Team has been listed in the Top Ten Teams in the nation over 9 times and won the 2000 National Silver Flight Championship, the 1998 and 2003 Eastern Regional Championship and the 2003 National Division Title. In April 2006, the team placed third in the nation. Howard University continues to qualify for national tournaments.

Students:

Howard undergraduates have a mean composite SAT score of 1,082. The students come from the following regions: New England 2%, Mid-West 8%. South 22%, Mid-Atlantic 55%, and West 12%. Howard University is almost exclusively (91.2%) African-American.

As of 2006, Howard's six year graduation rate was 67.5%. In 2009, 1,270 of the 1,476 full-time freshmen enrolled were found to have financial need (86%). Of these, Howard could meet the full financial aid needs of 316 freshmen. Howard's average undergraduate student's indebtedness at graduation is $16,798.

Between 1998 and 2009, Howard University produced a Marshall Scholar, two Rhodes Scholars, two Truman Scholars, twenty-two Fulbright Scholars and ten Pickering Fellows.

Notable alumni :

Howard is the alma mater of several notable individuals, including Ben Ali, co-founder and owner of Ben's Chili Bowl, the famous restaurant in Washington, D.C.; choreographer, actress and singer Debbie Allen; the first Nigerian president Nnamdi Azikiwe; NFL player Antoine Bethea; Congressman Elijah Cummings; actor Ossie Davis; former Malian prime minister and NASA engineer Cheick Modibo Diarra; David Dinkins, the first African-American mayor of New York City; Mike Espy, the first African-American U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; Former Mayor of the District of Columbia Adrian Fenty; Patricia Roberts Harris, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and first African-American woman United States Ambassador, Shauntay Hinton, Miss District of Columbia USA 2002, Miss USA 2002; Gus Johnson, sports broadcaster; attorney Vernon Jordan; television personality, Ananda Lewis; Thurgood Marshall, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison; actress and singer, Phylicia Rashad; Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia Kasim Reed; educator and writer Josephine Turpin Washington; recording artist Crystal Waters; Tom Joyner Morning Show Producer Nikki Woods; and United States Ambassador Andrew Young.