Great education but also as a service. So those people who have come from all over the world to Gain Knowledge and get an education have then gone out around changed the world around them. So its like going to the mecca where you can come and really know your spirit, your soul, expand your mind and the possibilities of the world around you and go out and change the world. So we feel its akin to a mecca. What were the circumstances that you became interim . My predecessor decided that he was going to step down and i was in the position of provost, which is considered the number two position. So i was asked to fill in on an interim basis. Where are you from originally . I was born in trinidad and tobago, many, many miles away from here. Howard had a very great reputation in trinidad, many physicians and so on that i interacted with while i was growing up were trained at Howard University, so it was a natural fit for me to come here. Where is Howard University located . At the Nations Capital in washington, d. C. On georgia avenue. I like to point that out because i think of georgia and florida as the center of the city. You get a little bit of everything on that very corner and i think it represents exactly the cosmopolitan of Howard University right now. How many students are there . About 10,000 students, about 6500 in undergrad and the rest in our graduate programs. What was the original creation of howard based on . You know, there was a charter back on march 2, 1867 which was founded by ten men to put forward and that charter really spoke to giving opportunity to those who otherwise would not have an opportunity. Howard has a hospital on its campus which was known as freedmans hospital and that was back five years before the university. The concept was to allow freed slaves an opportunity to get medical care as they moved from the south to the north but also as the university came about it was again to give an opportunity to those who did not have an opportunity. Race and ethnicity was never mentioned in our charter. We evolved into a circumstance where obviously we catered to African Americans in a large way especially as we came up and through the Civil Rights Era. Weve had 16 president s, ten of whom were caucasian and the last six have been African American. Whats the historicically black college and university, and where does howard fit in this size of all that . Thats a designation by the federal government that distinguishes universities that are catering to a particular segment of the population. And again providing that opportunity in order to get that education that otherwise they would not have an opportunity elsewhere. Howard university represents maybe the second or Third Largest of those universities. And of those universities in terms of spectrum, Howard University would be the largest private university in that segment as well. When you look at the breadth of offering, probably about 105 now that have that designation of historically black college and university, looking among those i would say that we have one of the widest offerings. We have a divinity school, law school, med school, the only dental school in the District Of Columbia and a wide variety of undergraduate programs that we offer as well. We are the only one in that category as well. So we really represent a unique offering in that space. I read that they are north of the 105 hcbus there are 200,000 plus students nationwide. You though say youre a private school but you get a couple hundred Million Dollars from the federal government. Why . Thats correct. Back in 19 well, with the funding of the school we did receive money from a Governmental Agency right from the founding based on the charter that was in place at the time. Subsequent to that, and around 1922, there was actually an act of congress that created the federal appropriation to Howard University. And then as it came through the Civil Rights Era and had official hbcu designation by the federal government we continued to receive that appropriation. And when you look at our output in terms of what we have done to diversify americas workforce and more importantly its leadership, brown versus the board of education was one that would not have existed if it were not for howard lawyers, and for the type of impetus that howard campus really gave to that. The Thurgood Marshalls of the world, of the world who are pre imminent alumni who have gone out and really made a marked difference in the areas that would not have occurred. But that experience is still occurring today. We have a very contemporary experience today. When you look at harris from california, the attorney general. You look at mayor reed in atlanta. We are continuing to really put forward very, very prominent alum who are making significant differences in their field. So that appropriation does come to a private university is really affecting america and the globe beyond it. Whats the total budget for the year . Its probably just shy of 1 billion in terms of revenues. Heres some video back in 2010 where you got an award and youre talking about your upbringing. I was born in trinidad some four decades ago, my parents were informed that my Life Expectancy would be pretty short so i kind of grew up living for today by ultimately chose Howard University. That was the only place that my mother would be comfortable sending a 16yearold who was 56 and 118 pounds to go to school. So with her blessings i came here and became a physician at the age of 22 going on 23. Lets start with that. How did you become a physician at age 22 . Normally its 26, 27. Yes. So howard gave me an incredible opportunity. Back to my upbringing. One of the other reasons i came to howard was because the first Prime Minister of my country Eric Williams was part of the Political Science department here. He graduated from oxford in england and then came over here because he felt howard was the black oxford and he laid the groundwork what would turn into a fight for colonialism and led the fight for trinidad. He revolutionized our country providing free health care, Free Education for the public. And my mom was the beneficiary of that and she was very enamored by Howard University because of what she felt it represented. I became enamored of it too because of hearing stories from her about him. That led me here to washington, d. C. To attend Howard University. Howard has a bsmd program which i benefited from. I graduated from high school at the age of 14, i skipped a couple of grades. I think having sickle cell was a blessing in disguise. My mother doesnt like to hear me say that but it afforded me a lot of time during hospitalizations to read and focus on my school work. And i was very enamored and intrigued by science. Every time i picked up something to do with science, i would be so fascinated by it. My mom being a nurse i would go on visits with her and i became enthralled by medicine. My grandmother tells the story about me saying i would become a doctor to find a cure for sickle cell. I jumped, i graduated early from high school. On top of that i was able to matriculate in what would be an eightyear program in six years and so that led me to going to med school at the age of 19 and finishing at 22. On your worst day that you remember, how bad do you feel with sickle cell anemia . Its been bad. Ive had some very difficult days. Especially as a child growing up ive had days where ive begged my mom and physicians to amputate the limb that was hurting me because the pain was so severe. I have the pain has been very intense. It can be very severe. More importantly i think just the emotions around all of it remind of the limitations on my physical body can sometimes be difficult to be especially as a young child who wants to be active. And i fell in love with soccer. So knowing that i couldnt play competitively as a result all of those things is a reminder. I havent been that ill that frequently in my adulthood since coming to the u. S. My health has been remarkably well. I think a lot of that has to do with the care that i received at Howard University as well as the knowledge that ive gained about what my triggers are. I know when to rest and shut it down and i know how to hydrate myself. Most people who know me well will tell you i would probably drink a few gallons of water a day and that has helped me significantly. So i still play soccer actively in the over 40 league so im trying to relive my youth through that mechanism. 42 years old . I will be 43 on june 17th. What is sickle cell anemia . Sickle cell is a hemoglobin disorder in which your proteins that make up the hemoglobin because of a genetic defect are shaped differently and react differently and deoxygenated states. So in deoxygenated states that becomes very firm and rigid and it causes the cells to take up a sickle shape instead of their usual round shape. That sickle shape also allows the cells to become stickier and so as they try to pass through and navigate the blood vessels they tend to stick to each other and kind of conglomerate as it were. That causes information locally swelling and it causes intense pain. Usually at the joints or in your limbs. So usually along the long bones of those types of things. So moving and using it becomes very difficult if not impossible without causing excruciating pain. When do you remember first realizing that you had it . I think at a very young child. My mother and father stayed near i was the firstborn so they stayed literally walking distance from the hospital as a result of my diagnosis in trinidad they had started screening for kids i think the year before i was born and so it became a mandatory test. So once they found out, they stayed very close. So for the First Six Months of my life i believe i lived across the street from the hospital. I would say as a very young child i had pains and difficulty, would get hospitalized, would really ask a lot of questions about why. So something that ive known all my life. Ive always associated myself with us going to the beach and not being able to swim for long periods because i would get sick every time of flying on planes was a difficulty as well because of the pressurized cabin. I would sometimes land on a long trip from trinidad to almost be sick immediately. So its always associated for as long as i can remember. Do white people get sickle cell anemia and asian people . Its a very interesting disorder. It says a lot about the diaspora and the world around us. People in the lower parts of the mediterranean and lower european parts, lower parts of italy and whatever, because of the African Diaspora, you can meet fairskinned people with blue eyes who get sickle cell and ive actually met a couple of people like that in my career practicing medicine. It clearly affects those of the African Diaspora in larger degrees and theres in africa it became more prevalent because the host cells dont last very long the red blood cells, people dont last very long. So malaria for instance its very difficult to contract malaria as a result so they think it proliferates it in africa as a result of that. And in between you have sickle cell, you have people with normal blood cells but you can have people with a trait where theyve inherited one gene from one parent and one normal gene from the other parent and they have the trait like my two younger brothers do. So their chance is probably a little less and they dont have the negative effects of what i have with having both defective genes. How do they treat sickle cell . Most of the treatment now is comfort, care, is what we would call it. Supportive care. Hydration, pain medication, when you have a crisis. In terms of a cure, there are studies being done where doing bone marrow transplants and now progressively stem cell transplants are leading to cures. And i think that will be the treatment of the future. When was the last time you had a sickle cell crisis . I would say probably three, four years ago. I have not been hospitalized for a sickle cell crisis since having my tonsils taken out at the end of my fellowship in 2003 where i couldnt drink enough to hydrate myself. Thats the last time. So thats over ten years ago. What were the circumstances of how you became interim president of howard and when did it happen . It happened october 1st. As i said, it was related to the president at the time stepping down announcing his resignation, his retirement i should say, and so i was asked to fill in since i was the provost and chief academic officer at the time. And it was a very humbling honor being a triple alum of the university to take on such a task. Thats because you have an mba. Well, that certainly does help. Why did you do that . Why did you get a master in business . I was associate dean for Clinical Affairs at the time in the medical school when i decided to pursue that. Ive always been interested in business in terms of how it works. And i felt that it was time for me to get a little more savvy about that, about spreadsheets, about strategy around acquisitions and mergers and things of that nature, and i thought the best way to do that at that time would be to pursue my mba. It also had a secondary benefit because i sat in with the students i was in charge with helping the students get an education. For the most part most didnt realize i was associate dean of the college of medicine, which is kind of down the hill on the campus. So it was a great education from both perspectives. How many people are there in the med school . In the med school we have 452 students in all four classes. We take in a class of about 115 to 120 every year. How many in law school . In law school we have i think about 380 a class. So i would say in the 300 range. So when the board of Directors Trustees came to you and the president stepped down and said we want you to become the interim, what was your reaction . I was i would say i was surprised. I was deeply honored, very humbled by it. And i also was very motivated and determined that it would put that type of faith in me because what howard represents to me just on a personal level in terms of what it has afforded me career wise to education, i could just never pay her back enough. So it was certainly an opportunity for me to do all that i can to make sure that she thrives. And i feel very strongly about this prior to being asked, to be put in the position to steer the ship was one that i certainly had to take a deep breath and say that dreams do become reality. Are you a candidate for the permanent job . I am. And how long is that process going to take . Im not sure. I have been participating in the process as any candidate would. How do you like it . I love it. I love it. I love everything about it. This has been a great opportunity as i move around the country and meet alum, im fascinated because my story i dont think is an exceptional story. My story is a true howard story. And as i move around the country i hear about so many people the first time in college, the first person in their family to graduate from college. I mean, the stories are incredible. And i want to look at what those people have gone back into their communities and do is incredible. Theyre not just leaders in business and in the industries, theyre as received the Technical Knowledge for. But theyve gone back in the communities and volunteered and made a difference to the communities that were sensitive to. So its a very humbling honor. Heres some video from this year where youre talking about the goals of the howard medical school. They understand that as sons and daughters of howard, their charge is to serve. They strive to provide excellent medical treatment especially in underserved and minority communities. Fulfillment of the Mission Begins with howards pipeline to prepare African Americans and people of color for careers in medical sciences. Howard university is one of the Top Producers of africans to medical school in this country. And when you look at minorities and African Americans in particular, we lead the way in terms of sending people to medical school via application process. And then when you look, we are number two only to one of the schools. I think that says a lot about where howard is position in terms of really fulfilling the dream of that pipe line to medicine. Talk about the trend. I mean, i read a statistic that back in the 70s that the historicically black colleges had 85 of black students in the united states. And now its down as low as 9 . So whats going on here . Well clearly the opportunities have increased. When you look at historicically black colleges and universities across the board for African American students, we actually enroll only about 3 of all African American students when you take Community Colleges into that number as well. However, we graduate 22 of all the African Americans who graduate from colleges and universities in this country. So although we only have 3 of the population, our ability to get them through and graduate them is significant. And therefore the role that we play is still a very, very important role. And its one that we think is a sacred and moral obligation. So that trend does speak to the fact that opportunity is there. And we believe that opportunity is americas promise, we believe that education is the contract that was written. But at howard and i think like many others we believe that we are the equal when it comes to African American education. Whats your medical specialty . Im a surgical oncologist. What