UW Tacoma’s Cedric Howard Wins “Living the Dream” Award

Cedric Howard , UW Tacoma’s vice chancellor for Student and Enrollment Services was recently awarded the Weyerhaeuser’s 2012 Living the Dream award. This is an honor given to those in the area who have shown to convey the significance and meaning of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Chosen for his consistent and diverse community involvement, the nomination committee took into consideration his work with boys of low income families at Tacoma Public Schoolsatcome families.e families.  as. Having grown up in a similar financial situation, Howard told Brian Anderson for the UW Tacoma news page that mentors played a role in his discovering education as the pathway toward success.

He also expressed that the “I Have a Dream” speech reached him deeply, saying, “He was talking about people like me, people who if given an opportunity can really succeed. The work I’m doing is in honor of everyone who invested in young people like me.”

Howard created a structure for a male mentoring program for middle and high school boys to spend time with professional mentors and discuss academic success and career planning. This endeavor, which helps up to 40 students at a time, is sponsored by Alpha Iota Mu Lambda Foundation at Tacoma’s Al Davies Boys and Girls Club.

He will be recognized for the Living the Dream award on January 17th at an annual Weyerhaeuser event.