Statement from the Donors
Over the past century and a half, Howard has produced some of the foremost scholars, physicians, jurists, public servants, writers and artists that have gone on to enlighten and inspire our nation and, indeed, the world. Howard produces more STEM PhDs than any other institution and is the only HBCU with its own hospital. This University has educated more than half of the black doctors, dentists and pharmacists in America.
In other words, one singular institution is largely responsible for the diversification of our nation’s healthcare workforce. Howard is dedicated to improving affordability and access to higher education by creating initiatives to help more students graduate in less than four years thus cutting their costs in debt and accelerating their professional careers. Unsurprisingly, Howard is ranked as one of America’s top universities for social mobility.
Under Dr. Fredrick’s leadership, numerous programs and services have been implemented to focus on our student’s Academic success and the student experience as a whole ultimately leading to increased student retention and higher graduation rates.
Grounded in a historically black university and a preeminent institution of higher education, a Center of Excellence for Women will not only be a place of scholarship and the creation of new knowledge, but also a place to inform, enhance and open career paths for Black women at a critical moment in history. While Black women have always had the highest workforce participation among women, and exceptionally high levels of civic engagement, the barriers to advancement resulting from both systemic racism and sexism has led to these women being overlooked and underutilized in professional fields and leadership roles, causing them significant economic disadvantagement.
While Black women have less than 1% of the wealth held by their single male counterparts, and even less than that held by white women and men. Many households are headed by black women, so this in turn disadvantages families, communities and in turn our country. Studies around the world have repeatedly demonstrated that women headed households spend more on their families than male-headed households—even when the householders are poorer. So, driving these women’s earnings power will drive consumption, which in turn drives economic growth. As a long-time investor I know that the current situation needs to change — in these precarious economic and civic times we cannot afford to not fully deploy every asset towards recovery and resilience, and societal well-being.
We cannot overstate the importance of advancing Black women's leadership at this moment in history. Facing a global pandemic, a severe economic downturn and a renewed societal focus on racial injustice, the country is facing a critical inflection point. To secure our national economy and ensure our future prosperity, we have to promote female leadership and ensure women's equal representation across all sectors of our society. Women already represent a significant and growing proportion of the labor force and a vocal component of civic life. This gift seeks to capture that energy, develop this exceptional talent pool and push our country forward, with women at the helm. Under the transcendent leadership of President Frederick, Howard has become a widely influential institution that is uniquely positioned to develop the next generation of leaders. With Dr. Dawuni's guidance, we will work to bring this Center to life and realize the vision behind it. As lifetime investors of Howard, we know that the returns on this investment will be exceptional for Black women and for our country as a whole as we move past these challenging times.
We hope that this Center of Excellence can be a part of a solution towards fully engaging Black women in our economy through providing Black students with mentor ship, sponsorship opportunities and career pipelines, grounded in excellent research and scholarship.