Others are just going to college. You are coming to the Mecca.
Each year at Howard, orientation represents a Renaissance, much like the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s led by Howard graduate Zora Neal Hurston and Howard faculty icon Alain Locke. For the new student, it is a grand renewal of aspiration and a metamorphosis of potential into actualization, of student into scholar, and hope into reality. For the Howard legacy, it is its literal lifeblood, as those who will continue the university’s transformative global leadership take their place in the sacred lineage.
As you take their first collegiate steps and take residence in the exact places where history’s most impactful luminaries began their journey of excellence, you ensure the perpetuation of Howard’s singular mission to permeate the world with truth and service.
All New Bison are encouraged to use each day of Bison Week as an opportunity to embrace important elements of becoming part of the Howard lineage.
They left home as children of parents, with only potential and promise to sustain their intellectual hunger. Today, they will be fully embraced as a member of Howard’s Ancestral Herd as they are bestowed a power forged through struggle and triumph, bequeathed by generations of Bison both living and transcendent into the light. Throughout the course of this day, new students are reborn into Bison.
Sunrise: Call to Chapel
Dusk: The Short Walk
Sunset: Pinning Ceremony
Away from the domain of their parents’ homes, New Bison awake for the first time as true masters of their own destiny. Today, they will find their places in their academic homes, meeting for the first time with their schools and colleges. They awake for the first time as Howard scholars, bound to carry forth its hallowed mission.
On this day, students will paint a picture of exactly how much they can achieve if they assume responsibility for their own success. At the same time, they will begin to understand their fundamental rights as a global citizen to make professional and societal contributions, receive respect as a human being, live a prosperous life, command equity, and uplift their families and communities.
As the purveyors of Howard values and the protectors of the Howard legacy, it is critically important that New Bison understand the magnitude of their role in the Howard story. Today, they should reflect on Howard’s indispensable role in human progress and its historic influence on global society.
Howard Bison have been endowed with a sacred trust, to find truth wherever it resides, to exalt it without fear of consequence, and to dispense it around the world so that it echoes for all time. Today, New Bison must reflect on their sacred bond to the pursuit of truth and accept the charge to be its champion.
While personal prosperity has its place, Bison focus on the greater good, using their talents to bring forth the betterment of humanity, one person, one community, one country, or one continent at a time. Today, through thought and action, New Bison are asked to embrace egalitarianism and give of themselves to support others.
Howard’s greatest strength is its family. It is a metaphysical union of minds, hearts, and souls. Today, New Bison should focus on embracing their new Howard family.
Faith is essential to the success of a Bison. The confidence that, though unseen, our actions will yield positive results, is a basic ingredient for achievement at every level and the remedy for setbacks. Today, New Bison are encouraged to explore what faith means to them and begin to integrate it into their new daily outlook.
On the first day of classes, the academic journey for these New Bison officially begins. At the same time, they are embarking on journey of self-discovery where new opportunities will present themselves even as life challenges are plentiful. On this day, these scholars will now see life through the eyes of a Bison, and realize the extraordinary path that lies before them.
