When Phylicia Rashad walked back onto Howard University’s campus in 2021, it wasn't just a celebrity showing up for a photo op. It was a homecoming. But it was also a heavy lift. People forget that for over twenty years, the College of Fine Arts at Howard didn't technically exist as its own thing. It had been folded into the larger College of Arts and Sciences back in the late 90s to save money.
Basically, the "Mecca" of Black excellence had tucked its arts program into a corner.
Then came the push to bring it back. Leading that charge was the late Chadwick Boseman, a student of Rashad’s who never stopped advocating for the arts at his alma mater. After he passed away, the university didn't just re-establish the college; they named it after him. And they needed someone with enough gravity to hold the center. Enter Rashad.
The Dean Years: More Than Just a Famous Name
Honestly, most people probably expected her to just be a figurehead. You know, show up at the galas, give some speeches, maybe teach a master class here and there. But she actually took the job of Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts seriously. She wasn't just "Clair Huxtable" sitting in an office; she was an administrator dealing with budgets, faculty hires, and curriculum shifts.
One of the biggest wins during her tenure was the Netflix deal. They dropped $5.4 million for the Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship. That’s huge. It basically provides full-ride tuition for theater students. Under her watch, enrollment in the fine arts spiked. She brought in heavy hitters to teach, people who actually work in the industry, which is what students at a place like Howard really need.
She also holds the Toni Morrison Endowed Chair in Arts and Humanities. It’s a mouthful, but it basically means she was tasked with making sure the arts weren't just about performing, but about the intellectual "why" behind the work. She wanted a "Leadership Laboratory." She talked about how physics and math live inside music and dance.
The Controversy That Almost Derailed It All
You can’t talk about Phylicia Rashad and Howard University without talking about the tweet. It happened almost immediately after she took the job.
👉 See also: d4vd matching tattoo with body: What the investigators are looking at
In June 2021, when Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was overturned on a procedural technicality, Rashad tweeted, "FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted—a miscarriage of justice is corrected!"
The internet exploded.
Students were furious. Alumni were calling for her resignation before she even really started. The university had to distance itself fast, putting out a statement saying her tweet lacked sensitivity toward survivors. She ended up apologizing—sincerely, it seemed—and she stayed in the post. But it was a rocky start. It showed the tension between her personal loyalties and her public responsibility as a leader of a major academic institution.
Why She’s Stepping Down Now
It’s 2026, and the landscape at Howard looks a bit different. Rashad announced she would be stepping down at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. A lot of people wondered if it was because of the friction, but honestly, she’s 77. She’s been working since she graduated from Howard herself in 1970.
She told people she "never saw herself as a dean." It was a three-year contract, and she fulfilled it. She did what she came to do:
✨ Don't miss: Cooper Manning and Wife: Why Their Marriage is the Real Manning Family MVP
- Re-established the college as an independent entity.
- Secured massive funding.
- Modernized the curriculum.
- Stabilized the faculty.
She’s leaving a foundation. She isn't just a "Bison" in name; she actually did the legwork to make sure the next generation of Black artists has a dedicated space that won't get swallowed up by the general budget again.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Legacy
The common narrative is that she was just a "legacy hire." That's sorta insulting when you look at her actual resume. Before she was a TV star, she was a theater geek who graduated magna cum laude. She knows the technical side of the craft.
There's also this idea that her time at Howard was all drama because of the Cosby comments. While that was a massive headline, the day-to-day reality was much more about her sitting in meetings trying to fix the plumbing in Childers Hall or arguing for more rehearsal space.
Actionable Takeaways for Future Arts Leaders
If you’re looking at what she did at Howard as a blueprint, here’s what actually worked:
🔗 Read more: Actresses with white hair: Why Hollywood’s silver revolution is finally getting real
- Leverage the Network: She didn't just ask for money; she used her connections to industry giants (like Netflix and the estate of Chadwick Boseman) to create sustainable scholarships.
- Focus on Infrastructure: You can't have a great arts program if the "bones" of the college are broken. She fought for the independence of the college so they could control their own destiny.
- Bridge the Gap: She brought "real world" experience into the classroom. Students don't just need to know how to act; they need to know how the business works.
- Accept the Growing Pains: Leadership in the social media age is messy. She messed up, owned it, and kept working.
The story of Phylicia Rashad at Howard is really a story about service. She could have stayed in Hollywood or on Broadway and kept winning Tonys—which she did anyway, winning another one for Skeleton Crew while serving as Dean—but she chose to go back to the basement of the theater building where she started. That says a lot.
Moving forward, the university is searching for a successor who can maintain the momentum. For anyone interested in the future of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, the focus now shifts to how the university will maintain the "celebrity-level" funding without a "celebrity-level" name at the top. It's a tall order.