The HBCU announced this week that it plans to graduate 105 Ph.D.s from a variety of academic departments—the largest number of doctoral degrees to be conferred in the school’s 147-year history—at Saturday’s commencement ceremony where the keynote speaker is Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.
“Since its founding in 1867, Howard has served as a national leader in educating populations that are traditionally underrepresented in higher education,” says the university’s interim president, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, who earned an M.D. and an MBA from the university. “Without Howard’s contribution to the production of doctoral recipients among African-Americans and other under-represented populations, our nation’s goals of significantly enhanced diversity in higher education and the research community would be much more difficult to achieve.”
