HUAA marks 60 years of service and connection
By Kelvin Childs
The Howard University Alumni Association is celebrating its diamond anniversary.
Since 1964, HUAA has provided 60 years of service to Howard graduates and built bonds with them around the globe. HUAA will mark this milestone anniversary over the next year with events, activations and merchandise, said Kandace L. Harris (’97 B.A., ’01 M.A., ’05 PhD), HUAA president.
“Sixty years is a testament of the commitment alumni have to our beloved Howard. Many of us spend an average of four to five years serving in leadership roles locally and globally. When I started, we were celebrating our 50th anniversary. This is currently my 10th year serving at the national level and I served three years at the local level. It is a labor of love for Alma Mater and service for alumni leaders, something that was rooted during its inception in 1964,” said Harris. Now in her second term, Harris is the eighth female president of HUAA.
HUAA was founded as the Howard University Alumni Federation, which soon had 40 alumni clubs “in cities stretching from the state of Washington to the islands of the West Indies,” stated the Handbook for Alumni Clubs published in May 1965. The manual provides guidance on establishing an alumni club, duties and responsibilities of officers, program ideas, a suggested constitution, and more.
The founding president was the late Matthew Mitchell (’33, B.S.; ’45, DDS), a two-time Howard graduate, who earned his undergraduate degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and his medical degree from the College of Dentistry.
HUAA’s 55 active alumni clubs are in six regions in the United States and Canada and four continents — Europe, Africa, Central America and South America. A seventh “region” consists of five alumni clubs configured not by geography but by like interest, such as a graduate of a particular school or college, and another five alumni affinity clubs.
Not only does HUAA engage alumni with events, activities and opportunities for networking, but also reaches back to support Howard students as they transition to alumni.
During fiscal year 2024, 923 donors contributed $238,441.31 to the HUAA Emergency Scholarship Fund, which provides need-based scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students who are facing a financial crisis. Students from any of the 14 colleges and schools at Howard are eligible. For the Class of 2024, the fund provided more than $743,000 in aid to 301 students — including graduating seniors and graduate degree recipients — to clear their financial balances, Harris said.
HUAA also has the merit-based Brenda Lawson Brown/HUAA Scholarship Fund to provide help to undergraduate students who have financial need. In addition, some local and professional alumni clubs offer their own scholarship funds. It is named in honor of Howard’s first director of Alumni Relations.
In all, HUAA has raised more than $1.5 million over the past few years.
Stay connected with HUAA, and be sure to follow us on social media and update your contact information. And you can see options for direct giving at Support the HUAA.