During a gala culminating several days of networking, entrepreneurship, and business strategy, the National Business League (NBL) closed its Quasquicentennial 125th National Business League Conference in Atlanta by naming Tuskegee University the National HBCU of the Year.
Dr. Kenneth Harris, president of the NBBL, invited Dr. Mark A Brown, President and CEO, to join honorees on stage, where he accepted the award for the university.
“Booker T. Washington had a vision for social and economic mobility and according to U.S. News and World Report, the No. 1 university for social and economic mobility, that is where you go to get a job and do well afterward is Tuskegee University, so we are living out our intention,” said Dr. Brown.
“HBCUs are as powerful economic engines for their states, the nation and the world,” he said. “I say this confidently because of the collective $16.5 billion in economic impact of those 101 schools.”
Tuskegee University generates $237.1 million for the local and regional economics of Alabama. The university supports more than 2,000 jobs on and off campus and graduates earn far more than they would without degrees.
The evening welcomed more than 2,100 guests, including business leaders from 33 Pan-African countries and members of Booker T. Washington’s family, as part of the Quasquicentennial 125th National Business League Conference Anniversary Celebration. The program emphasized Washington’s enduring vision of education, empowerment, and global economic advancement.
“On behalf of our principal, whose vision we still do, hand, heart and head in learning, thank you all,” said Dr. Brown.
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