October 2023
Features
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Yearbook Memories: See Atlanta University Center alumni before they became household names
A roundup of yearbook photos of famous Atlanta University Center alumni, including Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel L. Jackson. Raphael Warnock, Stacey Abrams, Tayari Jones, and more.
What’s next for HBCUs?
The United Negro College Fund’s Nadrea R. Njoku talks about growing public support, best practices, and unprecedented collaboration.
HBCU marching bands are the life of the party
Football games serve a different purpose at HBCUs: They’re the bookends for the halftime show. During halftime, no one is going to the concession stands or taking a restroom break. If you did, you’d be missing out on the real reason football games traditionally exist at HBCUs in the first place: the battle of the bands.
Clark Atlanta University Homecoming: A timeline
Kasey Phillips Brown (class of ’94) and Minyon Frazier-Foluke (class of ’93) meet up with friends for the Clark Atlanta University Homecoming nearly every year. Kasey travels from Lakewood, California, and Minyon from St. Louis. Here’s how they plan their weekend.
Despite an uneven economic playing field, HBCU athletic programs vow to keep winning
Athletic programs at the 10 Georgia-based HBCUs still have financial issues to confront. According to College Factual, Fort Valley State’s annual athletic budget is $2.6 million. CAU’s is $4.3 million. And while those numbers may sound significant, they’re mere trickles compared to the $169 million the University of Georgia allotted for sports expenses in 2022.
How Spelman and Morehouse welcomed the class of 2027
New Student Orientation at Spelman and Morehouse was a bittersweet rite of passage for the class of 2027 and their parents.
Morris Brown College’s hard reset
Morris Brown College has made many comebacks in its nearly 140-year history. This may be the biggest one yet.
SpelHouse: How Morehouse and Spelman teamed up to overshadow Howard’s Homecoming
When it comes to HBCU homecomings, we all think our school does it best. In fairness, the title, according to pretty much everybody, has long been held by Howard University. That is, until now. Brothers and sisters, there’s a new champion, it’s right here in ATL, and it’s called “SpelHouse.”
What hip-hop owes to the Atlanta University Center
Atlanta hip-hop would not be what it is today without the Atlanta University Center. It’s a bold statement, but one that rings true—the roster of artists, DJs, and music executives who’ve graced the AUC campuses is a veritable who’s who of the music industry, and the AUC has been instrumental in molding the fabric of Atlanta’s hip-hop culture.
Long live the Atlanta University Center
The Atlanta University Center has shaped generations of leaders—for the nation and for their home city. Atlanta would be nothing like it is today without it.
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The Connector
A quick guide to the Divine Nine
The legacy of historically Black sororities and fraternities dates back to the start of the 20th century. Four sororities and five fraternities, known collectively as the “Divine Nine,” make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Each of these organizations has its own colors, symbols, and calls that you’ll hear often during social gatherings, but all were established with the core value of uplifting the Black community through education, economic empowerment, and social change.
Spelman scholars on the past, present, and future
This summer, we gathered Spelman College alumnae from across different generations to talk about how the school shaped their lives. They talked about sisterhood, scholarship, and how their college days intersected with pivotal moments in Atlanta history, from the civil rights movement to the pandemic.
Some of Atlanta’s historic HBCU buildings are still in peril
Just west of the futuristic origami that is Mercedes-Benz Stadium, some of Atlanta’s most richly historic buildings stand abandoned on a hilltop like oversize, graffiti-strewn headstones in a forgotten cemetery. One gate of the tall chain-link fence surrounding some of these Vine City properties is bent dramatically outward, as if a velociraptor escaped. But just beyond that, a deep-red billboard stands like a beacon of hope, reading: “Master Plan Development Underway . . . Details Coming Soon.”
Paschal’s restaurant “hires” a couple of robots
One day in May, guests at Paschal’s, a historic Castleberry Hill restaurant, witnessed an extraordinary dance in the center of the dining room. Two food runners, Charlene and Larry, spun around each other trying to get to their respective tables. Inexperienced staff colliding is nothing new in the hospitality industry, but this was different. Charlene and Larry are robots.
The Bite
Atlanta restaurants celebrate the briny charms of tinned seafood
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Southern California, Mel Toledo enjoyed tinned fish regularly for dinner. “My mother would heat up a tin of sardines in tomato sauce and we’d eat it with rice,” says Toledo, who today is a co-owner of Foundation Social Eatery and Petite FSE in Alpharetta—and one of a growing number of chefs in the metro area celebrating the sophisticated joys of preserved seafood in small packages.
At Spelman and other HBCUs, Fried Chicken Wednesdays are a beloved tradition
Wednesday morning is quiet on the Spelman College campus—right up until 11:50 a.m., when classes let out. Students rush to get to the dining hall, where two lines snake around the cafeteria and spill out the doors. Elsewhere it’s just any old weekday, but at Spelman it’s a special occasion: It’s Fried Chicken Wednesday.
Review: Larakin is a good thing in a small package
The words adorable and European are never far from my mind when I walk into Larakin, the coffee shop and wine bar that opened late last year almost within sight of Piedmont Park. I climb a few opulent steps engraved with the names of the drinks that wait within—coffee, wine, latte—and suddenly I am in another culture.
The Goods
Time to represent: Check out these cool pieces of Georgia HBCU merch
No one rocks the merch quite like the students and alumni of historically Black colleges and universities. Have you planned your Homecoming wardrobe?
Arts exhibits currently on display at the Atlanta University Center
There are a fount of art offerings on the Atlanta University Center’s campuses—and cross-institutional programming and curriculum to glue it all together. Here’s what you can see on campus now.
Miscellaneous
Quick History Lesson: W.E.B. Du Bois at the Paris Exposition
Whoever controls the narrative has the power. In 1900, when the renowned sociologist, author, and Atlanta University professor W.E.B. Du Bois presented his groundbreaking The Exhibition of American Negroes at the Paris Exposition, he painted a revolutionary picture of what it meant to be Black in America.
