COMMENCEMENT Howard University’s 157th Commencement ceremonies honored the university’s largest ever graduating class. Legendary artist LeVar Burton served as the Commencement orator. Burton, who was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the ceremony — alongside honorary degree recipients Lilian Seenoi Barr, Dr. Emery Neal Brown, the Honorable Barbara Jean Lee, and Natasha Tretheway — urged graduates to embrace their future and to not “let fear paralyze them into inaction,” likening commencement to a continuation of the African tradition of the rites of passage. Howard University conferred 3,167 degrees across multiple academic levels in 2025. Photo by Justin D. Knight.
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Howard Magazine
Fall 2025
Fall 2025
Howard Magazine
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