Arguably the biggest actor of 2018, the Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, has accepted the honor of delivering Howard University’s 2018 commencement speech in May.
Chadwick, who also knocked it out of the park in his award-caliber performances portraying Jackie Robinson in 42 and singer James Brown in Get On Up, is a Howard University alum, exponentially enhancing the excitement surrounding this already momentous occasion for the graduating class.
Howard University’s president, Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, announced his selection to deliver the commencement speech.
“It is an incredible honor and privilege for the Howard University community to welcome back home one of its native sons, Chadwick Boseman, to deliver the 2018 commencement address,” he said in a statement that can be read on the school’s website.
“He has played some of the most iconic African Americans that have transformed history, including Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Howard’s own Thurgood Marshall. His recent role in the blockbuster film Black Panther reminds us of the excellence found in the African diaspora and how Howard continues to be a gem that produces the next generation of artist-scholars, humanitarians, scientists, engineers, and doctors. Mr. Boseman exemplifies the monumental heights and levels Howard graduates can achieve by using the skills and knowledge they acquired at the university.”
Howard U. is famous for producing a long line of dignitaries, authors, legislators, civil rights leaders and entertainers, including Phylicia Rashad, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Taraji P. Henson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, Sen. Kamala Harris, comedian Anthony Anderson and former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, whom Boseman portrayed in the movie, Marshall, that celebrates the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education that legally ended separate and unequal education.
The actor, who will next star in the Universal film Expatriate that he co-wrote, also expressed excitement about returning to his alma mater in the nation’s capital.
“I’m excited to return to the Mecca in celebration of the achievements of our illustrious students,” Boseman said, according to the esteemed Black college’s website. “Let’s listen, learn and build with one another.”
