Convocation Orator Urges Students to Seize the Opportunity

Stan O’Neal, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., delivered the 137th Opening Convocation address on Friday, Sept. 24. He was awarded a doctor of human letters degree honoris causa. Additionally, J. Weldon Norris, conductor of the Howard University Choir, was presented with a special certificate of recognition for his 30 years of service.

In his address, O’Neal shared four lessons he has learned on his journey from his humble beginnings as the grandson of a slave and son of a farmer, to his position as head of one of the world’s leading personal and institutional financial management and advisory firms. He said: 1. There is no substitution for preparation and hard work; 2. One must promote themselves and their ideas; 3. One must take charge of his/her own career; and 4. One must find and define his/her center, his/her core values and ethics.

Five Faculty Authors Contribute to New Book “Focus on African Films”

Françoise Pfaff, Ph.D., professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literature, has edited an in-depth analysis of African films, the newest and least-known art form. The book, “Focus on African Films” (Indiana University Press 2004), provides cutting-edge perspectives on filmmaking in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde and elsewhere.

Pfaff, an internationally recognized expert on Francophone African cinema, fashioned the collection to present the aspirations and issues expressed in African films, their significance in world culture, and their enrichment of intercultural heritage.

Through the contributions of her Howard colleagues -- Mbye Cham, Ph.D., African Studies; Beti Ellerson, Ph.D., Art; Josephine Woll, Ph.D., Modern Languages and Literatures; and María Roof, Ph.D., Modern Languages and Literatures -- as well as other scholars, Pfaff is able to provide a comprehensive survey and critical discussion on the impact of the continent’s past, present and future on the medium’s subject matter and creativity.