TO GET TO STROLL
WITH ALL MY
BROTHERS—THAT
WAS LITERALLY
THE FINISHING
TOUCH OF MY
HOWARD CAREER.”
—Travis Xavier Brown,
Howard graduateBrothers of the
Phi Beta Sigma frater-
nity’s founding chapter
haven’t truly graduated
from Howard University
until they complete
a half-century-old
tradition: a joyous,
choreographed stroll.
Passersby “stop—they
stop!—because they
know the culture, the
history,” says Travis
Xavier Brown (at far
right), a 2021 theater
graduate. “It’s a rite
of passage.” The pan-
demic forced Howard
to switch to online
classes, but as COVID-
19 cases fell, the school
opted to hold a joint,
in-person commence-
ment for the classes of
2020 and 2021.Washington, D.C. PHOTOGRAPH BY JARED SOARES
31