On The Yard, a crowd of students, alumni and other attendees huddled close to the Yardfest stage, stretching from the stage to the flagpole as they anticipated this year’s special guest performers.
Last weekend, Howard’s centennial homecoming drew a multitude of students, alumni, visitors and vendors to The Yard for an afternoon of performances, celebration and reflection on the institution’s legacy.
For Tennessee State University (TSU) alumna Linda Parrish, who graduated from her HBCU in 1976, this was an opportunity for her to “show [her] love for TSU and [her] love for HBCUs.”
For Howard alumni like Stacey Tucker, a 1988 graduate, the event was a time to celebrate tradition and achievement.
“It’s a wonderful event that brings together old alumni, new alumni, current students and current administration,” Tucker said, reflecting on the contributions Howard made to professions across the country.
The concert kicked off with a lineup of student performers, who took the stage with dancers and original tracks, followed by performances from Jordan Ward, 310babii, Ty Dolla $ign, Angela White, Derrick Milano, Leon Thomas, Coco Jones and Boston Richey. The performances, one of the most anticipated parts of Yardfest, were kept secret until the event.
Vendors such as BET, Fidelity and Amazon Music were on both sides of The Yard and lined the block in front of the Mordecai Wyatt Johnson Administration building. They offered a variety of gear, such as buttons, bags and hats.
For people like Cassidy Stratton, who visited Howard’s homecoming on behalf of Wagner Lane Productions, a Black and women-owned firm based in Chicago working in collaboration with BET’s We V.O.T.E initiative, homecoming offered the chance to encourage students to register to vote.
Stratton not only came to “celebrate HBCU excellence,” but to ensure people are registered to vote “so they have all the information they need to have a plan in place on election day,” such as checking voter registration status and getting their mail-in ballots.
LaShan Forney, who graduated with a master’s degree in social work in 2007, shared her appreciation for the opportunity to return to campus after almost 20 years.
“It feels good to be back on The Yard,” Forney said. “Some of us decided to come back to celebrate and support Howard through donations, showing our support for the students.”
Kamirria Wallace, a 2009 graduate of Howard’s School of Communications and founder of the HBCU apparel brand Black & Scholared, called Yardfest “a beautiful experience and a great celebration.”
“It’s about fellowship, reconnecting and bridging generations,” she said.
Copy edited by Jalyn Lovelady
