Howard Observes 10th Anniversary of President H. Patrick Swygert H. Patrick Swygert, a double alumnus (B.A. ’65, J.D., ’68), assumed the office of Alma Mater’s 15th presidency effective August 1, 1995, and was inaugurated on April 12, 1996. In the April 24, 1995, issue of The Capstone, then-Board of Trustee Chairman Wayman F. Smith said: “After an exhaustive review of a comprehensive list of highly-qualified candidates, the Committee chose to recommend H. Patrick Swygert to lead Howard University into the next century. We are confident that Howard University will continue its historic and outstanding record of academic excellence in education, research and community service.” In that same issue, Trustee Harry J. Pearce, who chaired the 17-member Presidential Selection Committee, said: “We are please with the unanimous choice of the search committee and are confident that through Swygert’s leadership, Howard University can become an even greater institution.”

Exactly a decade later, and those predictions have not been misplaced. The University has witnessed new and upgraded infrastructure such as the iLab, the Louis Stokes Health Sciences and School of Law libraries, and the renovated Punch Out. It has undertaken The Campaign for Howard: Leadership for America and the Global Community, the five-year, $250 million campaign launched in 2002 that currently boasts $180.5 million in cash and commitments; and it has encouraged a deeper pursuit of academic excellence by students and faculty, evidenced by the establishment of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence that assists professors in maximizing the use of technology in their classroom instruction. And, there has been a greater emphasis on national and community service, seen in the Howard University Security/Metropolitan Police Department station erected on Georgia Avenue and the nationally recognized LeDroit Park community revitalization project.

Approved by the Board of Trustees in 1996 and 2002, respectively, Strategic Framework for Action I and Strategic Framework for Action II (SFA I and SFA II) are the University’s blueprints that embody the principles that have served as the guiding force behind the institution’s transformation since 1996.

While the physical changes are the most visible, the new approach to research, teaching, student recruitment and retention has resulted in increased enrollment and a sustained upward trend in the quality of incoming students. To be sure, student accomplishments have been unparalleled in many ways in the past decade. Since 1998, for example, Howard has produced two Rhodes Scholars, a Truman Scholar, six Fulbright Scholars and nine Pickering Fellows. And, during the 2003-2004 academic year, the University attracted 71 National Achievement Scholars, the largest number in the nation, surpassing institutions like Harvard and Stanford.

Additionally, the University has strengthened its collaborations with academic and non-academic institutions to promote growth and academic excellence. One such example is the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program, a partnership with the Department of State aimed at promoting the increased entry of African Americans in the Foreign Service, which is administered through the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center. Also, there is a partnership with Vanderbilt University on an international program with Brazil; the Graduate School’s partnerships with area schools to enhance the Preparing Future Faculty Program; as well as partnerships with colleges in Bermuda, the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, the University of Addis Ababa; and linkages with the Department of Energy.

The increased activity has resulted in heightened recognition. In 2003, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching categorized Howard as one of 48 doctoral/research-extensive universities in the country. And, in its 2005, U.S.News and World Report, in its “America’s Best Colleges” issue, ranked Howard 90th among the top 248 national universities categorized as “National Universities-doctoral” and 48th among those same institutions categorized as “Best Value.” It was an impressive jump of 27 positions from 117 the previous year and of 96 positions since the University initially made the list in 1996.

Further extending its reach and influence to a new generation of students, this fall, Howard will welcome its first 120 enrollees for the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science [(MS)2], a public charter school committed to academic excellence, with a specific focus on mathematics and science but providing instruction in social studies, Spanish, reading and language arts.

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