Photo by: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter
Stacey Abrams, author, voting rights advocate, and two-time candidate for governor of Georgia will join the faculty of Howard University.
The Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics will be filled by Abrams for the first time. She will spend some time traveling to Washington, D.C., but will be based in Georgia after her multiyear tenure begins in September.
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“We are at an inflection point for American and international democracy, and I look forward to engaging Howard University’s extraordinary students in a conversation about where they can influence, shape and direct the critical public policy decisions we face,” Abrams stated.
The appointment, according to the university’s President, Wayne A.I. Frederick, testifies to Walters’ impact on the subjects of Black politics and the influence politics has on African American lives.
“Stacey Abrams epitomizes that in our contemporary experience, in our society. The work she has been doing on voter registration and voting irregularities, especially in Georgia but across the country, speaks to a lot of what Ronald Walters embodied. This appointment is extremely important for our students,” Frederick said.
Abrams is the latest high-profile person to be hired by Howard University within the past few years.
Ta-Nehisi Coates and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones joined the faculty in 2021. Coates’ writing has garnered him a MacArthur “genius grant,” a National Book Award, and a congressional hearing on reparations for slavery.
The Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts has appointed Phylicia Rashad, a celebrated actress and filmmaker, as dean.
Congratulations to Stacey Abrams on this huge accomplishment, we can’t wait to see the work you will contribute to the historic Howard University!
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