WEBVTT - Howard University President on Reopening 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.760 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.520 Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So delighted to have with me. 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:11.520 Dr Wayne Frederick, the President of Howard University, joining me 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:15.800 on the phone from Washington, d C. Dr Frederick, President Frederick, 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.599 Really nice to talk with you. How are you. I'm 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:21.680 doing well, Thank you, Thanks for having me. I hope 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:23.959 you're staying safe and healthy as well. We're doing the 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.520 best week can all of us are? Right? Um, So 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.960 tell me about what's going on on your campus when 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:33.440 it comes to reopening. We've talked so much about it. 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.760 I know that there are meetings and zoom calls and 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.160 all sorts of contingency plans. How are you thinking about 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.600 the fall right now? So we are thinking that we 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.040 will be identify our campus by and by that I 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.920 mean we have ten thousand students. We don't anticipate having 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:56.040 that many, certainly not more than four thousand students. We 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:01.520 have students in UH schools and colleges UH that that 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:07.160 need the faith to faith interactions such as medicine, dentistry, 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.720 um et cetera. So so we we have to bring 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.520 students back for that. The students with clinical practical comes 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.440 that will be there with We are looking at dorm 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.640 assignments as well to see if we can go down 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.080 to single rooms as well. We're going to have a 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:27.440 hybrid um some online. We also are going to have 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:32.760 UM the Faith to Faith classes live streamed as well, 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:36.200 so students can participate. We want to be also cognizance 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.040 of the fact that we have students from about seventy 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:42.160 one countries and forty six states, so at the time, 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:44.720 zones challenge and we have to make sure that we 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.600 can make accommodations there, so you know, a lot lots 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.640 of precautions, UM, lots of ppe and and making sure 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:54.200 that we have the right barriers and social distancing in 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:59.040 the classroom. And you know, Dr Frederick, it's interesting, I 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.760 feel like we all, especially in the media, talk a 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.880 lot about students. And maybe it's because you know, I 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.920 have almost college age, a teenager, so we talk a 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:10.160 lot about it from the students perspective. Talk to me 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.880 about your faculty and the conversations you're having with them 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:18.799 individually and as a group, and their concerns about coming back. Yeah, well, 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.840 academic deans have been engaging them, UM, the faculty have 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.720 been fantastic. You know, they have really going about the 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:30.280 business of standing up the online instruction uh and and 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:35.160 that has been really fantastic to watch. The other thing 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.359 that they have been UM doing that I think is 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.400 very very helpful is being thoughtful about the classes that 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:46.440 don't naturally fit UM, you know four online with instance, 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:50.680 like a physics lab. We because African Americans five times 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.840 more likely to drown. As an example, we have a 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.320 requirement to take a swimming class and how would actually 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:59.360 to graduate, So trying to think creatively of how we 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:01.960 do that. At the same time, we have a significant 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.040 number of faculty who's sixty five and over and faculty 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:08.240 who have cool mobilities we hire. We employed more African 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:12.120 American faculty than any other single institution higher institution America, 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.360 and so that also poses a challenge because we recognize 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.760 that we have an employee base that there's more at 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.959 risk for contracting this UM virus and also having a 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:29.280 bad outcome. So we are being very thoughtful UM about 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.880 managing that, and they were making sure that we understand 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.400 their concerns as well. So talk to me about testing, 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.640 because I know that you're offering testing at one of 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:44.680 your locations for your faculty. Tell me about how that extends, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.400 how it works and and the role that you're playing 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:51.440 in the broader community. Yeah, that's a good question. You know. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:57.480 We we have a facility that we have stood up 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:03.760 in conjunction with a partner out in Wards seven. So 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:08.800 it conceived the Residents Awards seven and eight that African 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.960 American UM. We also at a hospital. When we look 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.600 at the patients that we've been seeing, the vast majority 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.960 came from these Wards. So looking at and putting those together, 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.840 we decided that we really needed to get information out 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:26.400 there and to get UM testing UM out there as well, 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.280 and so Bank of America gave us a grant of 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.279 one million dollar grants. I told Hours to stand up 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:37.120 a testing site there and it has been oversubscribed very 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.360 early on. It We didn't need a doctor's note or 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:42.479 anything like that. We have a lot of frontline workers 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.039 who lived there and therefore we felt that their exposure 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:49.159 was significant and we wanted to really uh system. So 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.520 it has been really important for us to do that. 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.200 At the same time, I also want to remind everyone 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.919 that the elective clinical care that we were providing there 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:01.880 was also suspend did and Therefore, that gave us an 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:07.520 opportunity as a group to really put those healthcare workers 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:10.719 to work, and they really wanted to see their communities. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.119 So I also want to thank our staff who, while 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.640 UM we did not have regular clinical activity, really volunteered 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.560 and stepped in and stepped up to do this. And 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:23.680 I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you what is 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.000 it like in Washington right now with this virus? Because 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.200 I feel like we're dealing with all these hotspots around 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:33.919 the country. What are you seeing in your community? The 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.000 man in Washington d C. I think has done a 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:41.599 fantastic job, and so what we're seeing is continued decline. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.279 I think just recently we may have had an uptick 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.520 on one day of cases, which I'm hoping is that 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.880 strictly due to testing. But she's been really good. She's 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:57.440 been open about educating everyone about UM, ensuring that they're 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.599 wearing mask in public, UM, et cetera. Uh, you know, 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.920 she's been I think she's she's run a very very 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:09.160 thoughtful process. UM that was very engaging as well. I 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:12.920 still done her reopening committee and that a chance to 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:17.240 speak close up the wood that was was put into 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.360 that and the thoughts from this. So all in all that, 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:21.880 you know, I think we've been been in the d theory. 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:25.120 DC is interesting because obviously you have Virginia, so we 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.720 really looked at the d MB and the governors of 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:32.039 Board Mayland and Virginia wild Um, totally different styles and 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.680 republic one Republican, one Democrat. Uh. You know, I think 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:40.600 again when we put aside of politics and we you know, 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.479 put the health and safety food, they both have demonstrated 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:47.120 as well, I think very goodly. And we talked a 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.040 lot in our earlier part of our conversation, Dr Frederick 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.680 about reopening school. I want to pivot if we can, 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:56.360 because I want to take you back to a letter 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.640 that you wrote on MAT that deals with the other 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.800 major crisis that this country is facing, in one that 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:06.600 you're facing personally as a leader, and I think most 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.600 notably in this letter as a father, and you write 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:14.760 about talking to your fifteen year old son. And this 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.440 letter is incredible, and I have to say, incredibly moving, 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:23.880 and I recommend anybody who as a child or doesn't 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.200 and wants to understand more deeply this crisis that we're 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.120 facing as a country to read it. It struck me 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.480 very notably because I have a fifteen year old son 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.280 and the conversation that I have and the conversations I 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.480 have with him are very different than those that you 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.040 have with your fifteen year old son. Tell me what 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.720 moved you to write this? You know, as as we 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.920 were thinking about this crisis, and as I myself was 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:55.880 experiencing it um with my kids, it really struck me 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:01.520 that sometimes we can, you know, in all partisan politics, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.480 lose sight of the humanity that's involved. And at the 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:08.680 end of the day, you know, my uh, sixteen year old, 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.800 as you can imagine, is the world to me, as 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.360 is my daughter who was enforced in a couple of weeks, 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.280 and what he is facing as he is about to 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.800 get his driver's license, and I think of all of 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.520 those things, it was just really um, it really shook 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.640 me to the core. I came home and met him 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.720 watching the television, and I could just see on his 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:33.280 face that look of you know, bewilderment, of hopelessness, um 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.960 about a circumstance that he could not really understand. You know, 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.559 why should the color of the skin dictied helps someone 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:44.400 interact with him more so than the content of his character, 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.160 And so that you know, I I talked about the 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:51.559 young people who come to Howard very much looked like him. 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:53.360 You know, I thought it was important for me to 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.640 really punctuated with the humanity then, even as the president 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.960 of Howard and stud practicing surgical on college, just I 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.520 am not immune to it, and no all my kids. Well, 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.400 and you echoed something that I think a lot of 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:11.440 Black leaders have said, including the Mayor of Atlanta at 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.440 Keisha Lance Bottoms, who said something very similar that she 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:19.120 thought about her teenage son through all of this. Are 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:23.520 enough of these conversations happening right now? And are I 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:27.440 guess more importantly, are these sorts of conversations being understood 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.720 outside of the Black community. I think that's a great 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.640 question and also a very very pregnant point. Um. I 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:43.240 think these conversations are happening, um within you know, black families, 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.959 and they have been for some time. But the problem 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.560 is they can to continue to simply happen there. They 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:56.680 must happen outside of our community because ultimately, the full 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:02.840 understanding must be a comprehensive engagement of all our communities 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:05.600 so that we can understand and see and and I'll 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.520 tell you I've had it to experience myself. I went 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.679 to MBA Anderson Cancer Center as a surgical oncology fellow. 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.679 I had my attendings who were Jewish, and one day 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:18.000 in the upgraating whom I asked one of my attendings, UM, 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:24.040 you know what exactly, um, what exactly does quotia means? 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:26.400 And the reason I did that is because I think 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.360 a lot of times all of us assumes certain things, 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.719 but we really want to make ourselves uncomfortable enough to 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:37.880 ask that question and seem um, you know, either uneducated 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.480 or ignorant about something, but the reality is we are 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.960 and unless we do ask questions about how people feel 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.080 know what they do. And it turned into an unbelievable experience. 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.800 You know, he explained to me what it meant, showed 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:51.760 me what a kitchen looks like. I mean, it was 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:54.800 eye opening, you know, from my prior understanding of it. 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.040 And I think more of us um need to do 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.200 that first to really get a full understanding of what's 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.920 happening and that have it happened, you know, on a 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.520 on an episodic basis, Well, I want to end our 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:12.080 conversation again on on a slightly happier but but important note, 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:17.040 which is you had a big commit as they say, 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:21.040 to your basketball program recently, and it's notable in part 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:24.840 because of what it may signal in terms of top 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:30.400 athletes committing to historically black colleges and universities. Tell us 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.520 about the significance of that, you know, I I think 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:40.240 it's amazing. Um, this young man. I met him when 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:43.800 he came last October to visit, and I was immediately impressed. 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.559 You know, he wants to come to Howard for the 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:50.200 right reasons. He recognized that recognizes that we have a strong, 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:55.959 vigorous academic environment. He recognizes that people will treat him, um, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.520 based on you know, who he is and his academic 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:03.360 fourth he shut and he very much also is honest 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.920 about the fact that he's probably a one and done athlete. 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.000 But what we hope to change as well is that 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.520 we're really going to encourage him to complete his degree, 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.640 you know. And and so I am looking forward, um, 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:18.520 you know, to having him engage with us. And while 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.959 he may not be our traditional students and graduates in 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.920 four years, we're going to definitely insist and do everything 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.920 possible to make sure that he ultimately matriculate. He was 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.760 going to get a world class education, and not just 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.880 in the classroom, but but outside of the classroom, and 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.360 about a lot of things that I think would benefit 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:41.679 him in his future. All Right, well, good luck to him, 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:43.600 and good luck to you. I hope you'll come back 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:45.880 and visit with us. I really appreciate the time. Dr 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.000 Wayne Frederick, President of Howard University, joining me on the 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:51.000 phone from Washington, d C.