Howard University officially renamed its College of Fine Arts after the late Black Panther star, Chadwick Boseman, who graduated from the historically black university in 2000 with a fine arts degree in directing.
Howard shared a photo of the building’s new name above its entrance on Twitter, commending Boseman as “an icon in his own right who has left an immeasurable legacy for the next generation.”
The university also included a link to a YouTube video which can be viewed below and shows a timelapse of a worker setting the building’s new name in place above the door.
Boseman tragically passed away last year after a long and discreet battle with colon cancer. When Howard first announced it would rename the building after Boseman in May, Walt Disney Company Executive Chairman Bob Iger pledged to create a new endowment for the newly named facility as well as lead fundraising efforts to create a new state of the art facility on the campus.
“Chadwick Boseman was an extraordinarily gifted, charismatic, and kind-hearted person whose incredible talent and generous spirit were clearly reflected in his iconic performances, including as King T’Challa in ‘Black Panther,’ and in his tireless commitment to helping others,” Iger said in a statement at the time.
Boseman’s family also weighed in thanking University President Wayne A.I. Federick and the Howard University Board of Trustees for honoring the actor as well as Iger for volunteering to spearhead the fundraising effort.
“Chad fought to preserve the College of Fine Arts during his matriculation at Howard and remained dedicated to the fight throughout his career, and he would be overjoyed by this development,” Boseman’s family said in a statement. “His time at Howard University helped shape both the man and the artist that he became, committed to truth, integrity, and a determination to transform the world through the power of storytelling.”
While Boseman is perhaps best known for his role as King T’Challa in Black Panther, he’s also appeared in numerous other films including 42, Get On Up, and Da 5 Bloods. His final appearance as T’Challa in Marvel’s What If..? is now available on Disney+