Our WHY is to confront, challenge and change the narrative surrounding African American young men's post-secondary educational success. Our vision is to help Black males enroll at an HBCU, matriculate and graduate. The HBCU Promise is designed specifically to impact the enrollment and graduation rates of African American males. We support our students with resources that put them in the best posit
ion to complete college successfully, emphasizing completing in four. THE HBCU PROMISE HISTORY
Twenty years ago, a young college student was attending a football game with his college classmates. As they were cheering on their team, behind them was a single mother with her two sons. The mom and one son were enthusiastically cheering for the opposite team, while the other son cheered with the young college students. In the course of cheerful trash talk, which is a part of the HBCU College football culture, the young man in college said to the mother, "Well, I see you have one son who knows who to cheer for." As the game concluded, the mother confided in the young college student that she was glad he had taken the time to speak to her sons and that the one who was cheering with him had been in some trouble and needed to see positive young African American men. At that moment, with the mother's permission, the young college student gave her son his number and said, "If you call me, I will promise you that you will go to FAMU, and you will not just cheer for the Rattlers, you will be a Rattler!"
The promise was kept, and twenty years later, the young man has graduated from FAMU twice. He holds both a bachelor's and master's degree, is a husband and proud father. The ultimate goal of The HBCU Promise Inc is to empower our young men to become our community's next generation of leaders and to ensure that our nation's great HBCUs are not forsaken.
