The late Chadwick Boseman’s alma mater is honoring him by naming their newly re-established college of fine arts after him. It will now be known as the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
Boseman, who died in August 2020 after a secret battle with colon cancer, attended college at Howard University and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. One of his professors was Phylicia Rashad, who is now the Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
On Monday, Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward, talked about his legacy at Howard in a statement.
“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,” she said. “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.”
The late Black Panther star’s family also talked about what the honor would mean to him.
“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,” the Boseman family said in a statement. “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.”
Last October, Rashad talked to ET about her time with Boseman at Howard.
“I remember his smile and his gentle way,” she recalled. “I remember his unending curiosity and his love of study, studying many things all of the time. When I look back on his body of film work, and I have been able to see quite a bit of it in these last few weeks, it never ceases to amaze me how very different he is in each and every role. And the differences are subtle. They are not sweet rolled, they are not manipulated, they are not contrived. He presents a real person and persona in every character he plays.”
“When he came to New York, after graduating from Howard University, one day he called me all excited, ‘Oh, Ms. Rashad, you will never guess what I am doing,'” she shared, thinking at the time that he landed a big Broadway gig. “You know what he was doing? He was working with young people at the library and he was excited about it. That’s who Chadwick was.”
