Howard University and Netflix create $5.4m scholarship honoring Chadwick Boseman

Howard University, an HBCU, and movie streaming platform Netflix have created a $5.4m scholarship to honor Chadwick Boseman, who is also an alumnus of the institution. Named the Chadwick A Boseman Memorial Scholarship, the grant will provide incoming students to Howard University’s College of Fine Arts with a four-year scholarship to cover the full cost of university tuition.   

Boseman died last year after being privately diagnosed with colon cancer four years earlier. After his death, the College of Fine Arts of Howard University was named after him. He was also posthumously nominated for the best actor at the Oscars for his role in the Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom but lost to Sir Anthony Hopkins.

The scholarship was instituted in partnership with Netflix and Simone Ledward-Boseman, the widow of the star of the mega-hit Black Panther.

“Many exemplary artists are not afforded the opportunity to pursue higher learning, we hope to support as many students as possible by removing the financial barrier to education,” Ledward-Boseman said in a statement welcoming the move.

“This endowment represents Chad’s devotion to the craft, his compassion for others, and his desire to support future storytellers,” she added. “I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and amazed at the love and dedication shown by so many continuing to honour my husband’s work. I know he’d be proud.”

Howard University President Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick in a statement thanked Netflix for “this important gift,” adding that, “This scholarship embodies Chadwick’s love for Howard, his passion for storytelling, and his willingness to support future generations of Howard students.” 

On his part, Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO said: “While he was taken from us too soon, his spirit is with us always in his work and the good that he has inspired.

“He always spoke of his time at Howard and the positive way it shaped his life and career. Now, we will have the opportunity to give many future superheroes a chance to experience the same.”

Howard University is regarded as one of the most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. and boasts of renowned alumni like U.S. vice-president Kamala Harris, the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and musician Sean Combs.

Boseman graduated from Howard University in 2000.