Phylicia Rashad is stepping down as dean of Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
Howard University president Wayne A. I. Frederick announced Rashad’s departure in an email to the university community last Monday.
“We deeply appreciate Dean Rashad’s selfless contributions and commitment to our alma mater during her leadership of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts and the many contributions she has made to Howard University’s students, graduates, and global community,” Frederick wrote in the email.
The award-winning actress, best known to many for her role as Clair Huxtable on ‘The Cosby Show,’ took over as dean of the College of Fine Arts on a three-year contract in July 2021, following a nationwide search. Rashad graduated magna cum laude from Howard University with a bachelor of fine arts in 1970.
Rashad has had a decorated career as an actress with several awards. She is the recipient of a Tony Award, BET Honors Theatrical Arts Award and was inducted into the 2016 Theater Hall of Fame in 2016. She is also the recipient of the National Council of Negro Women’s Dorothy I. Height Dreammaker Award, People’s Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Pan African Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award and many more.
“Dean Rashad has successfully led the re-establishment of the College of Fine Arts as an independent college that continues to attract a high caliber of nationally and internationally recognized scholars, artists and creatives who serve as department chairs, mentors, teachers, and role models to our immensely talented and dedicated students,” read an official statement from the university.
According to Diverse Education: “Howard officials credit Rashad with modernizing the school’s curriculum, expanding enrollment among fine arts majors, and designing a modern fine arts building.”
Frederick said in the email that the search for a new dean will begin shortly. Howard University communications said Rashad’s personal statement is forthcoming.
