Anok Yai Returns To Howard Homecoming 7 Years After Being Discovered There

Model Anok Yai was discovered on Howard University’s campus at their 2017 homecoming. At their 100th annual YardFest, she returned in a beautiful full-circle moment.

In videos shared on social media from other attendees, Yai turned the entrance to the event into her personal runway—complete with a fashion-forward look and her own version of parting the Red Sea. Onlookers audibly gassed her up and squealed in excitement.

Yai showed up and out more than once over the five days of festivities and even rocked a look from Schiaparelli’s Spring 2025 collection.

When Yai went viral, she was a sophomore at Plymouth State University and was photographed by Steven Hall, who was just capturing different guests at the annual homecoming.

After he shared her photo (above), it immediately garnered over 13,000 likes and Yai’s entire life changed in an instant.

At the time, she explained to The Boston Globe, “My phone just started vibrating rapidly for a long, long time. At first, I honestly thought someone made a meme of me or something.”

By 2018, Yai signed to Next Models and landed a contract with Estée Lauder. “I am so excited to be a part of the Estée Lauder family. To be a woman of color representing an iconic brand that has continuously been at the forefront of beauty, is an honor,” said the Sudanese model in a statement.

She then became the second Black woman to open the Prada fashion show since Naomi Campbell in 1997.

Back in May at the Met Gala, she gushed about her success over the years and spoke on how she needed to return to Howard “soon.” Yai expressed to ESSENCE, “I have to come back to Howard soon! I don’t know when, but I’m coming to see ya’ll.”