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Red Tails Classic Weekend Raises Nearly $500,000 to Advance Student Success in Honor of Tuskegee Airmen
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Red Tails Classic Weekend Raises Nearly $500,000 to Advance Student Success in Honor of Tuskegee Airmen
Crystal Drake01 September 2026
6 minute read
MC Lyte and TU President & CEO Dr. Mark A. Brown standing with NASA astronaut Capt. Victor Glover and his wife.
Contact: Crystal Drake, Office of Strategic Communications
NASA astronaut Capt. Victor Glover receives first Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson Award in honor of beloved instructor and mentor to generations of aviators
Tuskegee University’s first Red Tails Classic Weekend was a celebration of philanthropy, football and the future.
That celebration included honoring a man known by many as the “Father of Black Aviation,” Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson who trained the young men who became the storied Tuskegee Airmen. Chief Anderson remained an important part of Tuskegee’s aviation legacy as a flight instructor in Tuskegee’s ROTC program through the 1970s, training hundreds of pilots that went on to aviation careers in the military, including World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, as well as with commercial airlines. He continued to instruct students and mentor many until 1989.
During the gala, the university unveiled the first Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson Award which will be given annually to an individual who is creating transformational and long-lasting impact in aerospace education, research and innovation.
Col. Palmer Sullins, a Tuskegee alumnus, U.S. Army veteran, and chairman of the Friends of Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, gave a moving testimonial for the man he called “a giant in my eyes,” before joining Tuskegee president and CEO, Dr. Mark A. Brown, to present the award to NASA astronaut, Capt. Victor Glover.
“He was always there to inspire any young person who wanted to fly. He made us believe it was possible,” Col. Sullins said recounting flying lessons that began after he met Anderson on Tuskegee’s campus as a young boy. That began a very close relationship with his life-long mentor who ended every conversation between them with “safe landings.”
“There would be no Tuskegee Airmen without Chief Anderson. He believed in them, and they believed in the sacred ideals of the United States of America, even as their country did not honor them in the same regard,” said Dr. Brown.
“So, we honor him and the Tuskegee Airmen this weekend with a commitment to invest more deeply than ever in the futures of Tuskegee students. In our Renaissance Era, as Tuskegee University marks 145 years of excellence, innovation, and leadership, this weekend is further proof of Tuskegee University’s reach throughout the nation, and our reason to continue empowering students to compete and win in the global economy.”
The action-packed weekend featured signature events in golf, STEM education, a workforce development panel session for freshmen, a gala and competition on the gridiron against The University of West Alabama.
While the Tuskegee Golden Tigers did not prevail on the field, Dr. Brown has signaled that the entire weekend was such a success that plans are already underway to do it again next year during Labor Day Weekend.
The weekend began Friday morning with the Red Tails Classic Golf Tournament where 20 teams competed at Lagoon Park Golf Course, with an 8 a.m. shotgun start, and a noon awards luncheon.
Later that day, Tuskegee hosted the Tuskegee Talent Summit and Workforce Solutions Forum at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa, connecting students, faculty, employers, and executive leaders. More than 215 students got real-world experience interviewing with representatives from local, national and global companies prepared with resumes and smart questions ready to share.
“What I saw was our future,” said Dr. Brown. “Tuskegee young men and women who are eager to compete in the global economy and who had come prepared and were ready to learn what it will take to set themselves apart to future employers. What I saw was The Tuskegee Way.”
On Saturday, K-12 students participated in STEM Exploration Day at Montgomery Riverfront Park, with Tuskegee faculty and students offering hands‑on STEM experiences and educational demonstrations. The day also included academic competitions designed to inspire young scholars including a Middle School science bowl and high school math competition.
Saturday evening featured the Red Tails Classic Gala, complete with a live band and dancing. Hosted by hip-hop icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee MC Lyte, the event was a sophisticated blend of storytelling honoring the extraordinary courage and singular excellence of the Tuskegee Airmen and to showcase how that legacy fuels Tuskegee’s ongoing commitment to train new generations of aerospace engineers, aviators and leaders.
Via video, guests heard from three-time Tuskegee University alumnus Dr. Lonnie Johnson ’73, ’75, ’18, the internationally renowned inventor of the iconic Super Soaker and one of America’s most accomplished inventors.
“Never stop pressing forward, just as the Tuskegee Airmen didn’t stop even when so many said they couldn’t do the extraordinary things they did,” said Dr. Johnson.
He reminded the audience that it was the Tuskegee Airmen who won the first U.S. Air Force “Top Gun” aerial gunnery competition in 1949, long before Hollywood made the competition a household name.
Dr. Johnson holds more than 160 patents, with dozens more pending and has earned multiple NASA achievement awards for his work on the Mars Observer, Galileo, and Cassini missions.
The centerpiece of the gala was a fireside chat with Dr. Brown and Capt. Victor Glover, the pilot of NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon in April.
A decorated U.S. Naval aviator and NASA test pilot, Capt. Glover previously served as the pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64. During this mission, the crew set the record for thefarthest distance from Earth by humans at 252,756 miles. Glover has spent a total of 178 days in space across his two missions.
The day before the gala, Capt. Glover, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor for the historic Artemis II space mission.
During the fireside chat with Dr. Brown, Glover shared his thoughts on topics, including the weight that education and educators carry in the lives of students.
“I was always good at math, but nobody applauded me for that – until Mr. Hanson,” he said, recalling the teacher who told him when he was nine years old that his skills could make him an engineer one day. “He changed my life. I made a decision to concentrate more on the Pythagorean Theorem than my jump shot.”
Capt. Glover said that knowing his teacher cared enough about him to see his gift for math and to explain and encourage it as a career option was a critical catalyst for everything that would follow.
“You have to touch the heart first,” he said. “The head will follow.”
Dr. Brown then asked Capt. Glover to sum up his thoughts on what those in higher education must do to create more leaders like him.
“Yes, you are creating leaders – Tuskegee always has – but remember that what you are really shaping is citizens,” said Capt. Glover as he challenged the “grown ups” to remember just how important it is to see the world through the eyes of their students.
“Make sure you listen to them as much as you speak, not to show them how you think life should be, but to help them develop what I think should no longer be called ‘soft skills’ – like the ability to think critically and communicate ideas effectively, and work well in teams. These young people will solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”
That celebration included honoring a man known by many as the “Father of Black Aviation,” Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson who trained the young men who became the storied Tuskegee Airmen. Chief Anderson remained an important part of Tuskegee’s aviation legacy as a flight instructor in Tuskegee’s ROTC program through the 1970s, training hundreds of pilots that went on to aviation careers in the military, including World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, as well as with commercial airlines. He continued to instruct students and mentor many until 1989. 
“He was always there to inspire any young person who wanted to fly. He made us believe it was possible,” Col. Sullins said recounting flying lessons that began after he met Anderson on Tuskegee’s campus as a young boy. That began a very close relationship with his life-long mentor who ended every conversation between them with “safe landings.” 
While the Tuskegee Golden Tigers did not prevail on the field, Dr. Brown has signaled that the entire weekend was such a success that plans are already underway to do it again next year during Labor Day Weekend.
Saturday evening featured the Red Tails Classic Gala, complete with a live band and dancing. Hosted by hip-hop icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee MC Lyte, the event was a sophisticated blend of storytelling honoring the extraordinary courage and singular excellence of the Tuskegee Airmen and to showcase how that legacy fuels Tuskegee’s ongoing commitment to train new generations of aerospace engineers, aviators and leaders.