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Howard University’s Showtime Marching Band was rehearsing ahead of Inauguration Day, January 20, during which they would escort Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, an alumna of the university, and President-elect Joe Biden.

The Howard band were to be joined in the escort by the Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band of Biden’s alma mater, the University of Delaware.

Harris has often spoken glowingly of her time at Howard University, a historically black university in Washington DC founded in 1867. She also maintains strong support for her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Other notable alumni include writers Toni Morrison and Ta-Nehisi Coates, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, politician Elijah Cummings, civil-rights activists Stokely Carmichael and Andrew Young, actor Phylicia Rashad, and singer Roberta Flack. Dr Martin Luther King Jr received an honorary doctorate from the university in 1957.

“It is our esteemed honor to be involved in the historic inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” said Howard University President Wayne AI Frederick, according to a press release. “Throughout her career, the vice president-elect has carried her Howard education with her, ensuring that she adhere to truth and service and inspiring her to achieve unprecedented levels of excellence. It is perfectly fitting that the Showtime Marching Band, the ensemble that captures and reverberates the heartbeat of our institution, should accompany her on this last leg of her journey to the White House.” Credit: Howard University via Storyful