Contact: Thonnia Lee, Office of Strategic Communications
In a celebration of Tuskegee’s Renaissance Era, alumni and friends returned to campus to honor the founders who created the heritage and legacy students enjoy today. Alumni raised more than $ 1 million to support Tuskegee.
The Renaissance Era theme was consistent through events that started with the crowning of Mister and Miss Tuskegee University on Thursday through the rousing Palm Sunday remarks of The Honorable Judge Andra Sparks ’85 on Sunday in the University Chapel.
Dr. Mark A. Brown, President and CEO, introduced Judge Sparks with the warmth and familiarity that has carried a friendship of 40 years.
“I know him,” Dr. Brown started. “I watched him when he courted his now wife, Karen. ... I watched him rise to the current role of Presiding Judge of Birmingham Municipal Court, the largest in the state of Alabama. He is now also a pastor at a church and heals the sick.”
When he took the podium, Judge Sparks returned the warmth. “That’s my friend!” he said turning to look at Dr. Brown. “I’m his friend. We’ve seen each other through life.”
The moment was especially poignant that he was on campus the day before his last day on the bench before retirement.
“When I saw Dr. Brown identify Renaissance Era as a theme, I smiled,” Sparks said. “He wants to reimagine a university that he and I enjoyed as students.” And then he began to weave in story about how the university has enjoyed ongoing support from many people whose names are not known.
A man wanted to help Booker T. Washington but could only give a blind horse. Washington turned that into a whole farm. A woman gave six eggs in a handkerchief. That became the example to give all you had.
"Six eggs and a blind horse are what you stand on right now,” he said. “They understood the necessity of creating an institution that would make us better. Faith will make you open up your treasury. Once we connect you to your purpose, your purse is sure to follow.”
The weekend captured this kind of momentum in a number of ways. Alumni gathered Friday for the State of the University update from Dr. Brown where he outlined plans for the university’s transformation.
“We call this the Renaissance Era,” he said. “It’s reclaiming something we already have in a modern way. We still believe in the head, the heart and the hand. The tools have been modernized, they’ve been refreshed.”
Dr. Brown walked alumni through record enrollment numbers and expectations for another large freshman class in the fall. Enrollment is estimated to hit almost 3500 in the fall.
“That’s the highest it’s been in more than a decade,” he said. “There are students who could go anywhere, but they want to go to Tuskegee.”
Dr. Brown talked about how the university is working to draw nontraditional students through the Tuskegee University Global Campus, the online program that will allow students to study from anywhere. He talked about the partnership with Trenholm State, where students could continue at Tuskegee for a four-year degree or earn certifications and start working immediately. He also talked about the TU Charter Program with D.C. Wolfe Elementary School, which will provide a STEM focus for local students, creating a pathway to higher education.
Tuskegee is moving closer toward the R2 research status with more PhDs prepared to graduate in May, increased research funding and the ongoing construction of the Genomics center on campus. He updated them on the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Skegee Village, which will provide additional housing on campus, and the Town and Gown relationship, which has been essential since Booker T. Washington was founding principal.
The university has purchased an ambulance, a hotel is being built off Exit 38 and the university has revamped the Varner House and the Jock Smith House in town.
“We want to make this city more inviting, and you watch how our student population will grow, he said.
He also updated alums on the Comprehensive Campaign and why their help mattered.
“The greatest fundraiser of all time was Booker T. Washington,” he said. “There has never been a better fundraiser in education than Booker T. Washington. In the Renaissance Era, I want to raise money, and I’m not talking about a little money. We’re talking about transformative money not from you, but people you know, companies you work for.”
Other weekend activities of note included the Genomics and Health Disparities Center Ceremony, which gave attendees an opportunity to tour the research facility. Saturday featured a Renaissance Paver Reveal at the newly recognized Renaissance Plaza. Donors gathered and literally cast down their buckets to make tangible investments that will be etched into the campus. They also enjoyed an alumni brunch, a spring football game and the William L. Dawson Lecture Series and William L. Dawson Concert Saturday night.
You, too, can become part of the Tuskegee University Renaissance Era. Making a donation to Tuskegee University is as easy as using this QR code.
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