Howard University names College of Fine Arts after Chadwick Boseman

Howard University is naming its College of Fine Arts after late actor and alumnus Chadwick Boseman, the school announced on Wednesday.

The Boseman family celebrated the announcement in a statement in Howard University’s press release. “Chad fought to preserve the College of Fine Arts during his matriculation at Howard. He remained dedicated to the fight throughout his career. He would be so overjoyed by this development,” the Boseman family said.

Then, the family thanked The Walt Disney Company, which distributed Black Panther; as well as its chairman, Robert Iger, who will lead the school’s fundraising efforts to build a new facility and an endowment. Last year September, California’s Downtown Disney also honoured Boseman with a large mural.

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Boseman was a proud alumnus of the historically Black college and advocated for the revival of the Fine Arts college. Also, he was the university’s commencement speaker in 2018. Privately, he was already battling cancer. Boseman, whose notable roles included Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; died in August 2020 at age 43 after suffering from colon cancer for years.

After Boseman’s death, a Change.org petition asking Howard’s president and board of trustees to name the school after the actor garnered over 58,000 signatures.