The Howard School, founded in 1865 to educate formally enslaved Black students, will officially launch its Capital Campaign to restore and transform its historic auditorium into the Roland M. Carter Arts Centre.
The campaign kick-off event will be held on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at 5:00 PM, marking the 83rd birthday of Dr. Roland M. Carter, a distinguished Howard alumnus and a national treasure in Black music and cultural leadership.
For decades, The Howard School has stood as a beacon of Black excellence, resilience, and achievement. Today, it serves a similar purpose for its Latinx student population. Yet time and time again, it has been overlooked in funding, in opportunity, and in investment — a painful pattern all too familiar in Black communities across the country.
The Roland M. Carter Arts Centre represents much more than a renovation project: it is a reclamation of space, a restoration of dignity, and a bold act of self-determination.
"We have waited long enough for others to see the value in our history, our culture, and our students," said Ricardo C. Morris, President and CEO of the Roland M. Carter Arts Centre campaign, Theatre Arts educator and 1980 graduate of The Howard School. "This project is about taking ownership of our narrative, creating something for ourselves, and building a future where our young people can see and experience their greatness every single day."
The new Centre will serve as a nationwide model and regional hub for education, creativity, entrepreneurship, and healing—especially for Black and Brown youth who too often go unseen and underserved. It will honor the sacred legacy of The Howard School, Tennessee’s first public high school for the Black community, and create new pathways for student leadership and community engagement as it works with CTE and Future Ready curucula to infuse it with the arts.
Despite its historic significance, The Howard School has frequently been passed over in broader plans for educational investment in Hamilton County. "We are often told to wait, to be patient, or worse, to accept crumbs from tables we built," said Morris. "This time, we are building our own table."
The Capital Campaign will seek to raise $11 million in a multi-phase development plan, with an initial $150,000 already committed toward Phase I. Naming opportunities, donor tiers inspired by the principles of Kwanzaa, and seat sponsorships for the renovated theatre are all part of the campaign, giving alumni, community members, and supporters meaningful ways to invest in this transformational project.
The campaign kick-off event will feature remarks from city and county leaders, musical tributes, and possibly a special address from Dr. Roland M. Carter via Zoom. A campaign video produced by Humanaut will premiere highlighting the urgent need—and the extraordinary opportunity—to finally give The Howard School the investment it has long deserved. Thanks to the generous support of Bob Franklin Architecture, the vision is brought to life through stunning renderings.
This is more than a capital campaign. It is a movement to honor the past, empower the present, and secure a future led by the very community that has sustained The Howard School for generations.
Join us as we reclaim our space, our voice, and our future.
Event Details:
- Capital Campaign Kick-Off for the Roland M. Carter Arts Centre
- Sunday, May 4, 2025 | 5:00 PM
- The Howard School Auditorium
- 2500 South Market Street