GRANTS, NEWS, AND AWARDS
Howard University Names College of Fine Arts After Iconic Alumnus Chadwick A. Boseman
May 26, 2021 | Written by Howard Newsroom Staff
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY’S EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN ROBERT A. IGER TO LEAD FUNDRAISING EFFORTS FOR A NEW, STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY AND ENDOWMENT FOR THE CHADWICK A. BOSEMAN COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
WASHINGTON – Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick is pleased to announce that the newly reestablished College of Fine Arts will be named in honor of alumnus Chadwick Boseman, whose remarkable career as an actor, director, writer, and producer inspired millions around the world. The news comes just weeks after the announcement of alumna and actress Phylicia Rashad as dean of the college. During his tenure at Howard, Boseman led a student protest against the absorption of the College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts & Sciences. Long after graduating, he, along with other alumni, continued to engage in conversations with Howard University administration- their efforts were not in vain. Plans to re-establish the College of Fine Arts were announced in early 2018.
“When Chadwick Boseman returned to campus in 2018 to serve as our commencement speaker, he called Howard a magical place. During his visit, I announced our plans to reestablish the College of Fine Arts and he was filled with ideas and plans to support the effort in a powerful way,” said President Frederick. “Chadwick’s love for Howard University was sincere, and although he did not live to see those plans through to fruition, it is my honor 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. I’m also elated to have the support of The Walt Disney Company’s Executive Chairman Bob Iger, who has graciously volunteered to lead the fundraising effort to build a state-of-the art facility and endowment for the college.”
“We would like to thank President Wayne A. I. Fredrick and the Howard University Board of Trustees for honoring our beloved Chad with the renaming of the reestablished College of Fine Arts. We would also like to thank Bob Iger for spearheading the fundraising efforts of this development,” said The Boseman Family. “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 Phylicia Rashad that the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts will inspire artistic scholars for many generations.”
“I am extremely pleased that Howard University has chosen to honor my husband in this way and elated that Ms. Rashad has accepted the role as Dean,” said Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward-Boseman. “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.”
A native of South Carolina, Boseman graduated from Howard University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. During his tenure, he had the fortunate opportunity to be trained and mentored by Rashad, who recognized his talent early on. “Unrelenting in his pursuit of excellence, Chadwick was possessed with a passion for inquiry and a determination to tell stories – through acting, writing, and directing – that revealed the beauty and complexity of our human spirit,” said Rashad, who is elated about the news of Boseman’s recognition.
The Walt Disney Company’s Executive Chairman Robert A. Iger will personally lead fundraising efforts in honor of Boseman, a cherished member of the Disney/Marvel family, to build a new, state-of-the-art facility to house the college and an endowment for the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
“Chadwick Boseman was an extraordinarily gifted, charismatic and kind-hearted person whose incredible talent and generous spirit were clearly reflected in his iconic performances, including as King T’Challa in ‘Black Panther,’ and in his tireless commitment to helping others. Through his tremendous example he inspired millions to overcome adversity, dream big and reach beyond the status quo, and this College named in his honor at his beloved Howard University will provide opportunities for future generations of artists to follow in his footsteps and pursue their dreams,” said Iger.
Boseman’s college classmate Ta-Nehisi Coates was a student writer for the Hilltop newspaper when Boseman and his fellow students orchestrated the protests to challenge the closing of the College of Fine Arts. Coates recalls how Howard nurtured Boseman’s sense of the power of the arts to affect change. Thus, he believes it’s only fitting that the University name the re-established program after one it’s most accomplished students.
“Naming the College of Fine Arts after Chad, I think is perfect and it’s exactly what should be done. His theater work, his movie work, his acting and his writing, this was a continuation of that activism. The arts for him were always about something more. We’ve had a long list of artists come out of Howard, but, in our generation, nobody can better articulate, by example or by artistry, what we learned at Howard and what the university gave to us. So, I think it’s just fitting – it makes me teary-eyed thinking about it– naming the College after our brother who never stopped fighting for it,” said Coates.
The announcement kicked off a fundraising effort to build a new, state-of-the-art facility to become the home of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. The building will also house the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and the University’s television and radio stations, WHUT-TV and WHUR 96.3 FM, creating a dynamic, one-stop complex for the arts and journalism combined.
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Pictured above: Left: Danielle Carr, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, 2nd-Year Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, NASA BP-AE Graduate Research Fellow with a focus in haptic interface design and control; center, Dr. Carl A. Moore, Jr., FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Research specialty: robot manipulators, haptic interfaces, and addictive manufacturing. Co-Investigator of the NASA MUREP INCLUDES grant, “Broadening Participation of Next Generation Aerospace Engineers through Traineeship and Workforce Development Program (BP-AE); right, Ebony Bland, junior in mechanical engineering at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, NASA BP-AE Undergraduate Fellow
The picture was taken in the Challenger Learning Center during a visit by NASA Director Sen. Bill Nelson on October 1, 2021.
FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY (FAMU) RECEIVES $1.2 MILLION FROM NASA TO RECRUIT MORE AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Florida A&M University (FAMU) has received $1.2 million from NASA to recruit more African American students to pursue careers in aerospace engineering. FAMU will establish a multi-institution coalition to recruit underrepresented minorities (URMs) for a comprehensive research and training program. In addition to FAMU, the coalition includes the University of Central Florida (UCF), Florida State University (FSU), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and four NASA centers. FAMU was awarded $1,199,977 for its proposal to NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP).
“Through the BP-AE grant, FAMU and its coalition partners will make a huge impact on the research and workforce development opportunities available to URM students in Aerospace Engineering and related technologies,” stated Associate Professor Carl Moore, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, who is co-principal investigator on the grant. For more information, please contact Professor Moore at carl.moore@famu.edu.
Delta Variant: What We Know About the Science
––Updated Aug. 26, 2021
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On July 27, 2021, CDC released updated guidance on the need for urgently increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage and a recommendation for everyone in areas of substantial or high transmission to wear a mask in public indoor places, even if they are fully vaccinated. CDC issued this new guidance due to several concerning developments and newly emerging data signals.
First, a significant increase in new cases reversed what had been a steady decline since January 2021. In the days leading up to our guidance update, CDC saw a rapid and alarming rise in the COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates around the country.
• In late June, the 7-day moving average of reported cases was around 12,000. On July 27, the 7-day moving average of cases reached over 60,000. This case rate looked more like the rate of cases we had seen before the vaccine was widely available.
Second, new data began to emerge that the Delta variant was more infectious and was leading to increased transmissibility when compared with other variants, even in some vaccinated individuals. This includes recently published data from CDC and our public health partners, unpublished surveillance data that will be publicly available in the coming weeks, information included in CDC’s updated Science Brief on COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination, and ongoing outbreak investigations linked to the Delta variant.
Delta is currently the predominant variant of the virus in the United States. Below is a high-level summary of what CDC scientists have recently learned about the Delta variant. More information will be made available when more data are published or released in other formats.
Infections and Spread
The Delta variant causes more infections and spreads faster than early forms of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19
· The Delta variant is more contagious: The Delta variant is highly contagious, more than 2x as contagious as previous variants.
· Some data suggest the Delta variant might cause more severe illness than previous variants in unvaccinated people. In two different studies from Canada and Scotland, patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients infected with Alpha or the original virus that causes COVID-19. Even so, the vast majority of hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 are in unvaccinated people.
· Unvaccinated people remain the greatest concern: The greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to get infected, and therefore transmit the virus. Fully vaccinated people get COVID-19 (known as breakthrough infections) less often than unvaccinated people. People infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit the virus to others. CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit the virus.
· Fully vaccinated people with Delta variant breakthrough infections can spread the virus to others. However, vaccinated people appear to spread the virus for a shorter time: For prior variants, lower amounts of viral genetic material were found in samples taken from fully vaccinated people who had breakthrough infections than from unvaccinated people with COVID-19. For people infected with the Delta variant, similar amounts of viral genetic material have been found among both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people. However, like prior variants, the amount of viral genetic material may go down faster in fully vaccinated people when compared to unvaccinated people. This means fully vaccinated people will likely spread the virus for less time than unvaccinated people.
Vaccines, Vaccines in the US are highly effective, including against the Delta variant.
· The COVID-19 vaccines approved or authorized in the United States are highly effective at preventing severe disease and death, including against the Delta variant. But they are not 100% effective, and some fully vaccinated people will become infected (called a breakthrough infection) and experience illness. For all people, the vaccine provides the best protection against serious illness and death.
· Vaccines are playing a crucial role in limiting spread of the virus and minimizing severe disease. Although vaccines are highly effective, they are not perfect, and there will be vaccine breakthrough infections. Millions of Americans are vaccinated, and that number is growing. This means that even though the risk of breakthrough infections is low, there will be thousands of fully vaccinated people who become infected and able to infect others, especially with the surging spread of the Delta variant. Low vaccination coverage in many communities is driving the current rapid surge in cases involving the Delta variant, which also increases the chances that even more concerning variants could emerge.
· Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your community. High vaccination coverage will reduce spread of the virus and help prevent new variants from emerging. CDC recommends that everyone aged 12 years and older get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Masks Given what we know about the Delta variant, vaccine effectiveness, and current vaccine coverage, layered prevention strategies, including wearing masks, are needed to reduce the transmission of this variant
· At this time, as we build the level of vaccination nationwide, we must also use all the prevention strategies available, including masking indoors in public places, to stop transmission and stop the pandemic. Everyone who is able, including fully vaccinated people, should wear masks in public indoor places in areas of substantial or high transmission.
References:
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2. Brown CM, Vostok J, Johnson H, et al. Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Including COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections, Associated with Large Public Gatherings — Barnstable County, Massachusetts, July 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 30 July 2021; https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm
3. Chia PY, Ong SWX, Chiew CJ, et al. Virological and serological kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant vaccine-breakthrough infections: a multi-center cohort study. 2021;doi:doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.28.21261295external icon.
4. Fisman DN, Tuite AR. Progressive Increase in Virulence of Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Ontario, Canada. medRxiv. 2021 Jul 12; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.05.21260050external icon.
5. Li B, Deng A, Li K, et al. Viral Infection and Transmission in a Large Well-Traced Outbreak Caused by the Delta SARS-CoV-2 Variant. medRxiv. 2021 Jul 12; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.07.21260122external icon.
6. Mlcochova P, Kemp S, Dhar S, et al. SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Delta Variant Emergence and Vaccine Breakthrough. Research Square Platform LLC. 2021 Jun 22; doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-637724/v1external icon
7. Musser JM, Christensen PA, Olsen RJ. et al. Delta Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Cause Significantly Increased Vaccine Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases in Houston, Texas. medRxiv. 2021 Jul 22; https://org/10.1101/2021.07.07.21260122.
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9. Ong SWX, Chiew CJ, Ang LW, et al. Clinical and Virological Features of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern: A Retrospective Cohort Study Comparing B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.315 (Beta), and B.1.617.2 (Delta). SSRN Journal. 2021 Jun 7; https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3861566external icon.
10. Riemersma KA, Grogan BE, Kirta-Yarbo A, et al. Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Individuals Have Similar Viral Loads in Communities with a High Prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant. medRxiv. 2021 Jul 31; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.31.21261387external icon.
11. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England, Technical briefing 19 Public Health England Technical Briefing 19. 2021 Jul 23; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005517/Technical_Briefing_19.pdfpdf iconexternal icon
12. Sheikh A, McMenamin J, Taylor B, Robertson C. SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC in Scotland: demographics, risk of hospital admission, and vaccine effectiveness. The Lancet. 2021;397(10293):2461-2462. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(21)01358-1external icon.
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