Two-time failed Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is set to join the faculty of Howard University, where she will be the inaugural Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics.
“The work she has been doing on voter registration and voting irregularities, especially in Georgia but across the country, speaks to a lot of what Ronald Walters embodied,” Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick said of Abrams, according to a report by Washington Post.
Stacey Abrams (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Nikole Hannah-Jones attends the Legal Defense Fund’s 34th National Equal Justice Awards Dinner at Jazz At Lincoln Center on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
“This appointment is extremely important for our students,” said the university president, who went on to say that when it comes to topics of black politics and the role politics plays in the lives of black people, “Stacey Abrams epitomizes that in our contemporary experience, in our society.”
Abrams, who is expected to begin the multiyear appointment in September, said, “We are entering an inflection point in American politics where the conversation of race and black politics will be a central facet.”
“And having the chance to help guide part of the conversation for young people who are studying at Howard University is an exceptional opportunity,” the twice-failed gubernatorial candidate added.
Abrams also touched upon the location of Howard University, saying, “Washington, D.C. is an essential part of how we protect democracy, how we think about social policy, how we challenge norms.”
“And Howard University is a crucible for how we can engage all of those pieces. And so when they approached me, I was excited,” she added.
Abrams’ new role at the historically black college is the latest in a series of high-profile hires for the university in recent years.
In 2021, New York Times writer and author of the divisive “1619 Project” Nikole Hannah-Jones decided to accept a role at Howard University after she rejected a tenured position at the University of North Carolina (UNC)’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
The same year, slavery reparations advocate, author, and Marvel comic book writer Ta-Nehisi Coates also joined the university’s faculty.
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