Howard University is one of the most renowned historically black universities (HBCUs) in the nation, having been ranked among the top producers of Black professionals in such fields as medicine, law, and pharmacy. Its founding began after the end of the American Civil War, first as a theological seminary intended to educate African American clergymen; eventually a university was created with a College of Liberal Arts and College of Medicine. It was named after General Oliver Otis Howard, a Union general in the Civil War, who went on to be its president in 1869.
Since its charter in 1867, Howard University has been an institution bound to no particular religion and open to all races and genders. From simple beginnings it has progressed to a Tier 1 national university of 13 schools and colleges that boast over 70 undergraduate programs, with the addition of facilities such as the Howard University Hospital. By its motto Veritas et Utilitas (“Truth and Service”), it has committed to core values of excellence, leadership, service, and truth, demonstrated through volunteer services both locally in the LeDroit Park and across the world; the number of volunteers in the U.S. Peace Corps has been one of, if not the highest, among HBCUs.
Over the decades, its faculty and students have contributed to many milestones in the nation’s history—the first African American Rhodes Scholar, the first person of African descent to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and the pioneering students who began the sit-ins that became so common during the Civil Rights Movement. If you come to campus, be sure to visit the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, and the Founders Library, all deemed historic landmarks. The campus also holds the Howard University Gallery of Art, an ever growing collection of works since 1928.