Howard University

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Howard University may not have been the nation's first predominantly African-American university, but the incredible list of "firsts" tallied by its alumni provide a testimonial to its greatness: First African-American Supreme Court Justice (Thurgood Marshall); first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate (Edward Brooke); first African American U.S. governor (Douglas Wilder); first African-American U.N. Ambassador (Andrew Young); first mayor of the District of Columbia (Walter Washington); first African-American mayor of New York City (David Dinkins) and first African American to win a Nobel Prize in literature (Toni Morrison).

Howard University Hospital is the nation's only major teaching hospital located on the campus of an historically black university. Its Cancer and Sickle-Cell Disease Centers, in addition to its work in neonatal disease and minority organ transplant tissue education, have made it a vital national resource.

Howard has awarded more Ph.D. degrees to African Americans than any other school in the country. Students from all 50 states are enrolled at Howard. It also attracts a higher percentage of international students than any other historically black American college or university. Its faculty boasts the largest concentration of African-American scholars in the world.

Named for Civil War hero General Oliver O. Howard, the university was chartered by Congress in 1867 and most of the school's early funding came from the Freedmen's Bureau. Originally envisioned as a theological seminary, the university founded colleges of Liberal Arts and Medicine by 1868. Today, 9,000 undergraduates and 1,200 graduate and professional students are enrolled in Howard University's 12 colleges and schools.

The university has awarded more than 83,000 degrees and certificates since its founding 131 years ago. Although it has grown and diversified, Howard remains true to its mission of "producing distinguished and compassionate graduates who seek solutions to human and social problems in the United States and throughout the world."

Howard
University
1964

"This university is not a museum piece, frozen in time ... Howard's golden days are today."

Howard University president H. Patrick Swygert was more than qualified to make that claim in his 1995 inaugural speech; he is both an alum of the school and a professional educator. Moreover, Howard's collections of artworks, rare books, manuscripts and photographs make the school "the national repository of the African-American cultural experience," in Mr. Swygert's view.

The university, like the society that surrounds it, has changed a great deal in the 33 years since it joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield. For one thing, health-related issues are more prominent, and consumers are much better informed. Swygert credits the Blues with helping to keep Howard's faculty and students educated about changes in the way that health care is delivered and financed in this region.

Mr. Swygert also feels that Blue Cross and Blue Shield responds to the increased need for quality that results from evolving family structures. "Meeting this need," he says, "is tremendously important for the community."