The Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and Howard University launched a full-tuition scholarship for a current student or graduate of Howard to attend one of the McCourt School’s four master’s programs in public policy, broadening academic collaboration between the universities.
Representatives from both schools signed a formally written commitment to the joint project, titled the Howard Scholar at McCourt program, on Jan. 29 that will further connect and encourage new research partnerships between Howard and Georgetown.
The program and memorandum will strengthen the relationship between the two Washington, D.C. universities, according to Georgetown Provost Robert Groves.
“This partnership creates an additional vehicle for collaboration between two world-class faculties, and deepens the ties between the Georgetown and Howard communities,” Groves wrote in an email to The Hoya.
All Howard students and alumni who apply and are admitted to one of the McCourt School’s five graduate programs will be automatically considered for the scholarship. The first recipient for the 2021-22 academic year will be announced April 15. The application process is now closed for the current cycle.
The new program underscores both universities’ dedication to community, according to Anthony K. Wutoh, Howard provost and chief academic officer.
“This agreement deepens the relationship between Howard and Georgetown, two preeminent institutions committed to service and scholarship in the name of improving our local and global communities,” Wutoh wrote in an email to The Hoya.
The Howard Scholar at McCourt program is the latest of several partnerships between Georgetown and Howard. The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science is a multi-institutional consortium of medical research institutions established in 2010 to promote clinical research in the District. In October 2020, the Georgetown University Law Center’s Innovative Police Program partnered with Howard University and The Lab @ DC, a scientific team based in the D.C. Office of the City Administrator, to co-host the final session of a seven-part workshop series focused on the role of police stops and their impact on local communities.
The universities may have further opportunities for collaboration because of Georgetown Law’s new campus building near Capitol Hill, about two miles from Howard’s campus, according to Maria Cancian, dean of the McCourt School.
“We are excited to build on our collaboration with Howard University as we prepare to move to the Capital Campus and take advantage of being even closer neighbors,” Cancian wrote in an email to The Hoya.
The collaboration between Georgetown, a predominately white institution, and Howard, a historically Black university, supports efforts to increase the diversity in public policy, according to Barron Harvey, dean emeritus and associate provost for academic innovation and strategic initiatives at Howard.
“The Faculty of the McCourt School is committed to ensuring that the school increase the diversity of its student body and to increasing diversity in Public Policy. Howard University is excited about the partnership and its future achievements,” Harvey wrote in an email to The Hoya.
