ABOUT US
Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel has maintained a legacy of leadership and service to the community. A strong commitment to religious life at Howard University places it alongside the University of Chicago and Princeton University as one of America’s first three universities to name a Dean of the Chapel.
Legacy
Since its inception in 1894, Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel has been the nexus of Howard University’s religious life. The Chapel’s enduring legacy reflects the University’s centrality to meaningful and sustained improvements in the life of the African American community.
Tied to this rich legacy is the roster of alumni who as leaders continue to significantly impact the political, social, economic and spiritual realities of local, national and international communities. The Chapel preserves and celebrates the African American spiritual and religious heritage, which forms the cornerstone of its historic legacy.
Dr. Howard W. Thurman
Term of Service:
(1931-1944)
Dr. Daniel G. Hill
Term of Service:
(1945-1958)
Dr. Evans E. Crawford
Dean Emeritus
Term of Service:
(1958-1993)
Dr. Bernard L. Richardson
Term of Service: (1993-Present)
Deans of the Chapel
“Howard Thurman, the first dean of Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel said, ‘There is something in you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself’...Regardless of what you do here or in the future, discovery of the genuine in yourself is your most important ‘assignment’.”
- Sidney Ribeau, Ph.D.,
President