Homecoming season at Howard welcomed alumni, parades, and yardfest excitement. Before the festivities began, Howard University welcomed back Cathy Hughes.
Hughes, a media mogul, the founder of Urban One, and the namesake of Howard University’s School of Communications, was one of the featured guests at Gwendolyn and Colbert Powell’s second Endowed Chair in Public Policy events.
“My home is here,” Hughes noted when being thanked for coming to speak.
Although she is not a Howard alumna, her impact on the school’s communications department does not go unnoticed. Getting her start in the media field in Omaha, Nebraska, Hughes was offered the job of an administrative assistant at Howard University’s School of Communications, where she later became the general sales manager for WHUR-FM— Howard’s radio station, and drastically increased its revenue from thousands to millions. This feat made her the first woman vice president and general manager of a radio station in D.C., and the birth of Urban One which was the largest African-American-owned broadcasting company in the country.
When asked about Urban One’s forty-fifth anniversary and her career, Hughes’ response came as a surprise to some in the audience.
“I don’t reflect a lot on it,” Hughes said. “It’s as if I blinked and all of a sudden the decades passed.”
With Hughes being a woman of color herself, and often the first of such stature in many fields, she couldn’t help but to notice the new leadership different schools within the university had taken on like the new deans of the school of communications and the college of fine arts.
“I see this time as being a great opportunity for people of color, particularly Black women,” Hughes said. “It’s time for Black women in particular to stop apologizing for what we know and who we are. I think it’s high time for brothers to accept that that’s not a threat—that’s an asset.”
The excitement over Hughes’ return to Howard for the Endowed Chair in Public Policy series was one that wasn’t exclusive to students and recent alumni who gathered in the browsing room of Founder’s Library. Dean and graduate alum, Kimberly Moffit, a featured guest of the program and the new dean of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, expressed her gratitude for Hughes paving the way for women in media spaces.
“As soon as I was announced as the new dean, my first request to the provost was when could I meet Cathy Hughes,” Mofitt said. “It was really important for her to know how significant I felt this moment was.”
The Cathy Hughes School of Communications is the number one producer of Black communication professionals and journalists. During the event, Dean Moffitt spoke on how coming to Howard felt like coming home and gave her the opportunity to foster the growth of the next generation of intellectuals.
As for fostering the next generation, Hughes has a personal commitment to always open the door for those who follow. She acknowledges the fear of the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in media, but instead offers hope and optimism towards the situation.
“The reality is that all research shows that Black owned media is second only to the Black church in terms of credibility and importance to our community because it’s the telling of our story from our perspective,” Hughes said. “It’s the identification of what we want, what we desire, and what we’re able to do. I really encourage people, if you don’t allow it to enter your consciousness, then you won’t be stressed if you really have confidence in yourself.”
Hughes’ visit left the audience in awe as they were able to hear wise words from the living legend about her career, but also words of encouragement that were full of gems that can be applied both to their careers and everyday lives.