At DELTA FEST, HBCU leaders discuss how to prepare students for the evolving Southern economy ...Middle East

Leaders of historically Black colleges and universities want their institutions to prepare students for the rapidly changing workforce and careers in industries such as infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare and education. 

They also said they want to ensure companies benefiting from the talent HBCUs produce also reinvest in those colleges and communities.

The leaders discussed those issues in two panels Wednesday during the first day of DELTA FEST, a three-day event that brought dozens of nonprofit executives, business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians and community leaders to downtown Jackson. The event focused in part on how communities across Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Georgia can benefit from more than $200 billion in capital investment in the region from industries such as manufacturing, healthcare and education.

Bobbie Knight, president of Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, said HBCUs shouldn’t just produce talent that companies can recruit away. Instead, Knight said, leaders should create partnerships with corporations and companies to generate investments and opportunities for students that can also benefit the colleges and their surrounding communities.

One example is the Bessemer Built, a college scholarship initiative in Alabama. QTS Data Centers, a Virginia-based company and developers of a $14.5-billion data center campus called “Project Marvel,” committed $8 million to the program, which will pay Bessemer City High School graduates through the class of 2030 at least $10,000 each to attend specified Alabama schools including Miles College. The program is part of the company’s long-term investment in the city of Bessemer. 

Elsewhere in Alabama, Tuskegee University has tried to align its academic programs with workforce needs, said Kellei Bishop Samuels, chief of staff at the university.

As demands for pilots and aviation workers grew, the university expanded its aviation science  program after receiving $5.29 million more in federal funds in February.

“We are supplying the talent pipeline for the state to ensure that needs of the state are being met,” Samuels said. 

Building corporate, nonprofit, governmental and private partnerships also requires stable university leadership, Knight said. Frequent leadership turnover can make it more difficult for HBCUs to develop the long-term corporate and philanthropic relationships needed to attract investment.  

“As president of a college, your main job is to bring resources into the institution,” Knight said. “If you’re going to have major donors and partnerships, they want to make sure you’re there, or the leadership is going to be there for the long term, whether it’s board or presidency.” 

In general, university presidents are serving an average of 5.9 years, according to the American Council on Education. The average tenure is even shorter for HBCU presidents: 4.22 years, according to a January report from the United Negro College Fund. Presidents of private HBCUs are serving an average tenure of 4.42 years, according to the report. 

The evolving use of artificial intelligence could provide an early test of how HBCUs navigate corporate partnerships. AI is one of the biggest changes institutions have confronted in recent years, said Yolanda Page, president of Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. College faculty should embrace and update curriculum to mold students skills for the future workforce, she said. 

Tougaloo College has become central to discussions around AI and data center development, President Corey Wiggins said. Plans to build a data center near the Tougaloo campus have sparked community conversations about how local resources such as water, energy and land will be affected. 

Tougaloo leadership aims to build relationships with corporate and governmental partners to drive economic change at the college and in Jackson and Hinds County, Wiggins said. Part of that relationship-building will center on a justice framework, which is part of the legacy of the private historically Black college. 

Tougaloo leadership will hold institutions and people accountable for how they treat the community, Wiggins said.

“Our students deserve more, right? How do we strengthen the institution so we can deliver for our young people on campus and deliver for the community around us?” 

Ultimately, Page said, the goal of any HBCU leader is to ensure their graduates stay in their communities after graduation. 

It is also important for leaders to find employment for local residents, not just the students they serve, she said.

“We have to think outside of our box and beyond our respective gates,” Page said. “That’s how we can have community impact and see more communities thrive.”

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