Approximately 439 graduates are first-generation degree recipients. Nearly 2,000 of the degrees conferred were bachelor’s degrees; 1,167 Bison hail from Southern states. The College of Arts and Sciences housed the largest group of undergraduates with 739 candidates. Nearly 50 members of the Class of 1974 gathered for its golden reunion, sitting on the left side of Capital One Arena. 

Jules remembers spending freshman year remotely from her home in Exton, Pennsylvania, engaging in her Howard classes at what the students dubbed “Zoom University.” 

“I was blindsided. I was excited and then everything was put on pause,” said Jules, who served as vice president of Howard’s Petey Greene Program. The organization pairs students to tutor incarcerated people to learn about the prison system.  

“Being able to graduate today is a memory of what was and how we were stopped early on, but we still persevered even with all the turbulence and troubles down the road.” 

With the 2023-2024 academic year his first as the 18th president of Howard University, Ben Vinson III, Ph.D. said he is honored to see the culmination of the Class of 2024’s success.  

“You embody the true essence of this University, the true essence of a Bison, and because of all you’ve endured over this timespan, I believe you are uniquely positioned to create some of the necessary changes we need in our world,” Vinson said.  

Vinson acknowledged the difficulties and the perseverance that the Class of 2024 experienced. “And yet here you are, in person, on the verge of being officially conferred with your Howard University degree,” Vinson said.  

“Your journey from then to now has been unlike any other graduating class before, yet that is precisely what makes each of you prototypical Howard students: your strength, perseverance, resilience, and steadfast commitment to achieving your goals.”  

Families Celebrate Graduates and Mothers 

Attending families were equally excited to finally watch their children walk this year. Traveling from Georgia, Tanya McCollum recalls the excitement when her niece Sydney Sewell was accepted to Howard University, but heartbroken that Sewell didn't experience milestones associated with departing high school.  

“She had to adapt to the cyber learning environment [which] was definitely challenging with not only a new school, but a new way of learning,” McCollum said. “The school and its culture definitely propelled her to become a more sociable person. Not only was it important for her to go to an HBCU, but the number one HBCU.” 

For E.J. and Alisha Bridgeforth, witnessing their daughter Sydney Bell receive her bachelor’s degree in biology is a perfect gift for Mother’s Day. Bell is a Karsh STEM Scholar. 

 “I’ve really enjoyed the whole week of events that’s taken place,” Alisha said, as she attended the president’s commencement reception and a dinner hosted by the Karsh STEM Scholar program. 

Traveling from Atlanta, Bridgeforth plans to celebrate motherhood, Bell’s degree, and the space that Howard makes for its Black scholars, through well-earned rest. 

“When we were discussing colleges, I told her to really think about an HBCU,” Bridgeforth said. “Being here, it’s helped her identify with being a great Black person, and being able to see that they are Black people who are succeeding, who look like her and are smart.”  

But graduation is for mothers too. That is the case for Jessica Whitaker, who is receiving her Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Her son, Junious Whitaker IV, attended graduation to celebrate his mother’s “perseverance, fortitude and resilience,” traits that he described all graduates with. “At one end she’s a Howard grad, on the other, she’s a Howard mom,” said Whittaker who is pursuing his Ph.D. in history. “It just shows me it does take a village, but it takes a woman, a mother to nurture. And as we think about Mother’s Day, I am extremely thankful.” 

Oratix Thasunda Brown Duckett Delivers Speech of Courage 

Former vice president of Costa Rica Epsy Campbell Barr, hospitality leader J. Williard Marriott, Jr., NASA astronaut Victor Jerome Glover II, and attorney Fred David Gray received honorary degrees during the ceremony. Thasunda Brown Duckett, TIAA’s president and CEO, received an honorary degree and served as the oratrix of the 156th Commencement.  

In her speech, Duckett shared her wisdom and encouraged the graduating Bison to “lead with courage.” “Courage is women into the very fabric of Howard’s history, especially its incredible legacy of firsts, founders and fight,” Duckett said. 

“Have the courage to be excited about all the world has in store for you. In the years ahead, know that you’re going to have to summon up courage; in the workplace, with your families, in your careers. You will need to find and use your voice to be great.” 

After graduation backstage, School of Law graduates Deavon Rector, Jasmine Marchbanks, and Amir Muhammad recalled the moments of being shut down during in Fall 2021 when COVID’s Delta variant spread. But though the world stopped, it did not stop them. Muhammad said he’s excited to embody Howard’s goals of truth and service in the next chapter of his life. 

“To be a Howard lawyer, it is something owed to us to be catastrophically impactful on our communities,” said Muhammad, who will work at Dentons LLP in the summer. “I couldn’t imagine having the same sense of obligation if I didn’t go here.”