A Global Howard

The COVID-19 pandemic helped us recognize just how small the world has truly become and how interconnected we all are. What happens on one side of the world affects all of us. The greatest challenges we face – from climate change to economic insecurity to the threat of another deadly disease outbreak – must be addressed and solved collectively and with a global mindset.  

As one of our nation’s preeminent historically Black colleges and universities, it is Howard University’s distinct responsibility to press for equality and justice for all people throughout the world. Our advocacy must be both broad and specific; Howard must champion the rights due to all people and confront entrenched injustices that marginalize swaths of society based on people’s personal traits and characteristics.   

Howard has always been an extremely diverse institution. We have students and faculty from all across the country and all over the world. Our community is home to people of many different races and ethnicities and religions. Numerous languages are spoken on our campus. We always seek to be a welcoming place, where all people can feel comfortable being their full selves. 

I made my way from Trinidad and Tobago to Howard University at the age of 16, following in the footsteps of many Howard alumni and faculty who had tread that same well-worn path. The name Howard University resonates with people all over the world. International students continue to flock to the Mecca, leaving an indelible mark on our University and campus community.  

Thanks in large part to the international representation among our student body and our faculty, Howard provides all our students with a global education. When we say we want our students to go out and change the world, we mean the entire world – not just the United States. To change the world, our students have to understand it. They need knowledge of global history and other cultures.  

In addition to shifting our paradigm to a more global perspective, I think the pandemic has also helped remind us of people’s humanity. We can’t go into a grocery store or hospital and ignore the people who work there. Where perhaps once they were invisible, now we realize these are people who work on the frontlines, who went into work every day during a pandemic, putting themselves at risk to ensure that people could get food and access to health care.  

As a result of the pandemic, we are witnessing the rise of a golden generation. In the aftermath of a crisis, this often transpires. But I believe this next golden generation will be different than any that preceded because it will be our first global golden generation.  

Howard University has always been a home for people like me, individuals from any country who can come to the Mecca to explore who they are, where they came from and where they’re going. By branding ourselves as an international university, we can continue to provide an unparalleled education for the forthcoming global golden generation, comprised of leaders from Howard University who will go out and change the world for the better.