The #HBCUnified’s first official event was National Political Awareness Day, which flooded the yard with students on Sept. 20.
#HBCUnified was coined during the summer when several HBCU Student Government Association presidents wanted unity, and support an important cause.
The event was geared toward the upcoming November elections, where over 280 students registered to vote. The event took four weeks to plan and was funded by donations, said Derrick Young, the SGA student relations director.
“This was a great turnout and I am really happy that I registered 282 students to vote,” Young said. “I only had 300 registration forms with me, so I was expecting around 150 students to register.”
The Favrot Student Union Board provided entertainment, while Rapid Signs donated signs and Barnes & Noble donated T-shirts.
Young said he wanted to include the hashtag “#myvotematter” on the T-shirts to encourage students to vote. He created the idea after encountering several people who thought their vote did not matter.
“Your vote does matter,” said Young. “I wanted to stress to all HBCUs that a student’s vote really does matter.”
During the #HBCUnified event, several campus organizations participated in the political awareness movement including members of the Divine Nine, United Afrikan Amerikan Men and NAACP. The Black Dynasty Modeling Troupe performed a red, white and blue patriotic runway show.
Tabasco also offered a free taste test to students to wrap up the event.