Howard University names their College of Fine Arts after late alumnus Chadwick Boseman

Howard University has announced their reestablished College of Fine Arts will be named after alumnus Chadwick Boseman. The late actor, who graduated from the school in 2000, had protested against the reabsorption of the college into the broader College of Arts and Sciences while he was a student and continued to advocate for its reestablishment long after he left the Washington, D.C., campus. 

"Chadwick's love for Howard University was sincere, and although he did not live to see those plans through to fruition, it is my honor to ensure his legacy lives on through the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts with the support of his wife and the Chadwick Boseman Foundation," Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm also elated to have the support of The Walt Disney Company's Executive Chairman Bob Iger, who has graciously volunteered to lead the fundraising effort to build a state-of-the art facility and endowment for the college." Boseman, best known for his role as T'Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for playing non-fictional icons James Brown, Thurgood Marshall and Jackie Robinson, died last year at age 43 after an intense and secret battle with colon cancer. Boseman was nominated for an Academy Award for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and posthumously won a Golden Globe award for his role in the film, which would prove to be his last. He also won several NAACP Image Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards throughout his highly celebrated career.