In this month's issue of The Roundup: HBCU Edition, we take a look at the news stories and key moments surrounding Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as all of the ways in which HBCUs have helped shape public discourse over the past few weeks.
February 10 - March 9
Innovation
Morgan State University announced it is launching the Center for the Study of Blockchain and Financial Technology — the first of its kind on an HBCU campus.
HBCU graduates are having more success entering the job market, due to the recent surge in attention.
Speaking of jobs, FedEx has announced a $5 million initiative that will prepare graduates from four Tennessee and Mississippi HBCU institutions to enter the workforce.
Leadership Development
Want to know how HBCUs are changing the face of business and political leadership? Read this Fortune article.
Who runs the world? Women. Fortune points out that HBCUs are nurturing corporate America’s most effective female leaders.
NASA highlighted two of its female leaders who credit their success to the education they received from their respective HBCU alma matters.
And speaking of female leaders, St. Augustine’s University has a new president.
Key Partnerships
We’ve talked about the IBM-HBCU partnership before, and now 10 more HBCU campuses have joined the initiative.
RAISEfashion and the Anti Racism Fund have partnered to launch an internship program for HBCU students.
The U.S. Army is also pursuing new opportunities to partner with HBCU campuses.
Home Depot is back with its annual Retool Your School contest, this time donating $1 million in campus improvements on HBCU campuses.
Key Donations
Calvin Tyler and his wife, Tina, warmed hearts this past month as they pledged $20 million to endow scholarships for students needing financial aid at the historically Black university he had to drop out of.
Even the National Trust of Historic Preservation announced it would provide $650,000 in donations to HBCUs.
The record number of donations from people like Tyler coupled with emergency aid amid the fallout from COVID-19 have kept the doors open for some struggling HBCU campuses.
More HBCU students will receive scholarships thanks to a $10 million scholarship initiative launched by Sodexo, a national food services and facilities management company.
Two of the sports industry’s recognizable brands, FanDuel and the Washington Football Team, have partnered up to donate $10 million to the United Nego College Fund, which provides scholarships to students who attend HBCUs.
Sports
HBCUs make history as UCLA schedules its first-ever football games against Alabama State University and North Carolina Central University.
This past month, Xavier University of Louisiana played its first intercollegiate ball game in more than 60 years after re-establishing its baseball program.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University has struck a deal with LeBron James and Nike to produce apparel for all of their sports teams.
USA Today recognized the 51 best NFL players to come from HBCUs.
The NBA followed suit and listed its own compilation of top NBA players who emerged from HBCU institutions.
Speaking of the NBA, this year’s NBA All Star Game benefitted HBCUs and COVID-19 aid.
At that game, Portland’s Robert Covington announced a new scholarship to support students at Tennessee State University.
Although HBCUs are landing top recruits, such as Covington, change is needed to ensure their success.
Pride
Robert Covington is the only active NBA player who graduated from an HBCU; as this New York Times article points out, he understands how his alma mater set the stage for his NBA career.
Former football standout and Good Morning America co-host, Michael Strahan shared the many lessons he learned attending Texas Southern University.
All the recognition of the power HBCU campuses bring has been “extraordinary.”
This news roundup will focus on the trends impacting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). Each month, we will highlight the policy, process and programmatic changes happening nationally and among these institutions and how the colleges and universities are responding to them.
