Articles

Admiral Michelle Howard Visits Campus

By Madeleine Cerone

February 27, 2024

On February 6th, leaders in the DMC community came together to eat dinner with Admiral Michelle Howard in the living room of our little, blue, home away from home. I was among one of the lucky few who heard Admiral Howard’s stories about the experiences that led to her successful career in the United States Naval forces. 

Admiral Howard shared with us that when she finished her schooling in the Naval Academy, she never could have imagined the successes she would achieve. This was as a result of laws hindering women’s involvement at the time; women were not allowed to serve at sea when she started her career in the Navy. However, by the end of 35 years of service, Howard had become the first black woman to achieve the rank of four-star admiral, command a U.S. Navy ship and lead operational forces. She also was chair of the Naming Commission, which was a committee charged with changing the names of ships that commemorated confederate officers. She was also appointed as the Vice Chief of Naval Operation in 2014, which is the second highest ranking office in the navy.

Despite all of the lessons she learned at sea and in her command positions, Admiral Howard stressed to us that leadership begins at home. Before much else, Admiral Howard told us about her family. Her mother grew up in England during World War II and was a girl scout and boy scout leader, and her father was an Air Force Master Sergeant who grew up here in the United States. She is the oldest daughter of three siblings, and even though she had one older brother, she told us that she was always the one to take charge. 

One vacation, when Howard and her family were hiking through cold, rainy weather in one of the Alaska State parks, her mother told her youngest sister she would be building a fire for their dinner that night. This might not have seemed like a huge challenge to your average camping family, but for Howard’s it meant something more. Mrs. Howard’s rule was that if you couldn’t light a fire with one match, as she had learned to do during World War II, then the family would not have any fire at all that night: for warmth or for dinner regardless! 

Howard and her siblings started to get anxious. They knew that they needed to help their youngest sister, who was only seven at the time, in order for her to produce a one match fire that night. Howard and her brother ran around looking underneath the pine needles for wood that was dry enough to use for lighting. The eldest held up his coat for the youngest to have a dry spot to build the fire’s structure. Finally, the moment of truth came, the youngest sister lit her match, and everyone held their breath as she dropped it into the wood. When the fire came to life, everyone cheered and smiled in celebration.

With this anecdote, Howard wants us to take away that success tastes sweeter when it’s the result of teamwork. Working together towards a greater goal can be used in everyday life, like during a group project in class, but it also applies to working towards a better world. She also encourages us to hold people accountable, like her mother always did when she asked them to build fires like this. Holding others accountable increases the likelihood that they will hold themselves accountable, and assume responsibility.

At the DMC, we acknowledge that each of us has a responsibility to help create a more inclusive and less ignorant society. We encourage students to use what they have learned inside the DMC from speakers like Michelle Howard to facilitate conversation and programming that sparks positive change around inclusion of intersectional identity. 

Thank you to Admiral Michelle Howard for coming to visit us at Hamilton! We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us, and we thank you for your service.