Charter Day Weekend 2025 raises more than $1 million

By Kelvin Childs

Another Charter Day Weekend is in the books! 

The annual event, which comprises Charter Day Dinner and Charter Day Convocation, raised more than $1 million for scholarships for Howard University’s outstanding students. Howard alumni, supporters, sponsors and students were at the gala, held at Marriott Marquis Washington DC for the second year.

At Charter Day Dinner 2025, Anthony Anderson (BFA, ’02) returned for his second turn as master of ceremonies, bringing his signature flair and humor. As a bonus, Anderson was one of the night’s five recipients of the Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement Award, his in the field of Entertainment.

President Ben Vinson III, PhD — also celebrating his second Charter Day Dinner — and Board of Trustees Chairman Laurence C. Morse (B.A., ’73), PhD, introduced Anderson and the other honorees: Nelson Leon Adams (B.S., ’74), M.D., in the field of Medicine; Sunny Sumter (B.A., 94), in the field of Fine Arts; Donald Thigpen, Jr., Esq. (J.D. ’74), in the field of Law; and Christopher Tyson (BArch ’98), JD, in the field of Law and Servant Leadership.

The day before the event, Charter Day Convocation 2025 marked the 158th anniversary of Howard’s founding, when President Andrew Johnson approved its charter. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, a Union Army officer and Civil War hero, was instrumental in establishing the University and served as its third president.

The Honorable Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington, D.C., was speaker for Charter Day Convocation 2025, and Dr. Vinson presented her with the President's Medal for Achievement. Bowser is the first African-American woman to be elected to three four-year terms as mayor of an American city. She has focused many of her efforts on housing, small business growth, economic development and public schools. Among her accomplishments is commissioning D.C.’s Black Lives Matter street mural, a model for other U.S. cities.