NOTED HBCU ALUMNI

Colleges and universities like to boast about their alumni who have gone on to careers of great distinction. HBCUs are no different and can list among their graduates the current vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris (Howard ’86).

Here is a sample list of HBCU alumni:

DAVID DINKINS (Howard) 1st African American mayor of New York City

LANGSTON HUGHES (Lincoln in Pennsylvania) Poet, social activist and playwright

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter

REV. JESSE JACKSON (North Carolina A&T State) ivil rights activist and presidential candidate

MARLON WAYANS (Howard) Actor, comedian, and film producer

DEBBIE ALLEN (Howard) Actress, choreographer, director and producer

SPIKE LEE (Morehouse)

Oscar-winning film director, producer, writer and actor

ROBERTA FLACK (Howard) Grammy-winning singer-songwriter

WILMA RUDOLPH (Tennessee State) orld-record-holding Olympic track and field champion

Scholar, activist and NAACP co-founder

Nobel Prize-winning novelist

KESHIA KNIGHT PULLIAM (Spelman) Film and television actress

ALTHEA GIBSON (Florida A&M)

1st African American tennis player to win 3 major titles

GLADYS KNIGHT (Shaw) Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and actress

PHYLICIA RASHAD (Howard) Actress, singer and stage director

PAM OLIVER (Florida A&M)

Testimonial

FOX sportscaster and journalist

SAMUEL L. JACKSON (Morehouse)

Award-winning actor and film producer

Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and actor

1st and only athlete to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl

GEORGE ALCORN (Howard) Inventor of the imaging X-ray spectrometer

JOHN W. THOMPSON (Florida A&M) 1st African American chairman of Microsoft Corporation

I decided to attend an HBCU because of the rich tradition that has produced black superheroes like my idol W.E.B. Du Bois, who attended Fisk University. Additionally, during the time that I attended an HBCU, the president of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was former congressman William Gray, who was a close friend of my mother, and he spoke highly of the tradition of the black college. Moreover, I was encouraged by my high school English teacher, Mrs. Delores Henderson, who attended Johnson C. Smith University and told me about the Golden Bull tradition. I was more than intrigued, so I attended, and it transformed my life.

Chad Dion Lassiter, Johnson C. Smith University Alumnus