Mayor Muriel Bowser Speaks at Charter Day Convocation 2025

Mayor Muriel Bowser, recipient of the President’s Medal for Achievement, was Howard’s 158th Charter Day convocation speaker last Friday at Cramton Auditorium.

Charter Day is an annual event commemorating the founding of Howard and is dedicated to students, alumni and faculty. This year’s Charter Day theme was “The Power of Possibility.”

In a 12-minute speech to over 1350 attendees, Bowser, who was awarded the President’s Medal for Achievement by President Ben Vinson III, spoke about the importance of HBCUs nationwide.

“For decades, HBCUs have equipped students with the knowledge, skills and confidence not just to defend and advance our democracy but to ensure that Black people have a place in it,” she said.

Bowser also spoke about her office’s partnership with the university which includes the HBCU Public Service Program, which Howard joined in November 2023.

The program began in November 2024 and puts graduating students from Howard and the University of the District of Columbia in year-long apprenticeships within District government agencies.

Bowser also announced a $225 million investment to build a new Howard University hospital and integrated academic medical center, which plans to open by 2026, according to the mayor’s website.

Bowser graduated from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a bachelor’s in history before pursuing a master’s in public policy from American University.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser delivering her keynote speech at Howard’s 2025 Charter Day convocation in the Cramton Auditorium on Feb. 28. (Davis Dailey/The Hilltop)

According to the D.C. mayor’s office, the 52-year-old who has been mayor since 2015 is the second person to be elected three times as mayor of Washington, DC. She is also the first African American woman elected mayor of an American city for three consecutive four-year terms.

A protest outside of Cramton preceded the convocation after Mayor Bowser and the attorney general pushed to shut down Empower, a ride-share app. Empower’s chief of staff, Roshn Marwah, said the protest was in support of drivers’ rights to work for themselves.

Ravi Perry, a Howard professor of political science, attended the convocation and described it as an honor and a privilege. He emphasized the importance of D.C. to have the support of Howard.

“It is through that partnership that the chocolate city as it is known retains much of its chocolateness,” Perry said.

Like Perry, Tracy Ross, a third-year graduating student from the School of Divinity and Compelling Preaching Initiative (CPI) director of community engagement and outreach for the Black congregation resource center at the School of Divinity, enjoyed being at the convocation.

“I know that I am sitting in something that is incredible. Something that a lot of other institutions do not have. It’s like as soon as you walk in you can feel that you are somebody,” Ross said.

Charter Day started with a spirit week and ended with a dinner on Mar. 1. There were also recipients of the postgraduate achievement awards: Nelson Leon Adams III, MD (BS ‘74) for medicine, Anthony Anderson (B.F.A. ‘22) for entertainment, Sunny Sumter (BA ‘94) for fine arts, Donald A. Thigpen, Jr., Esq. (JD ‘74) for law and Christopher J. Tyson (Barch ‘98) for law and servant leadership, JD. Carrie Hackney from the Howard University Libraries is a recipient of the LaRue V. Barkwell Capstone Distinguished Service Award.