Welcome to HBCU Journeys, a special edition podcast series brought to you by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In this ten-part series, our team of reporters Rosalind Bentley, Eric Stirgus and Ernie Suggs dig into the heart of what makes an HBCU experience so unique through candid interviews with graduates and students whose lives were changed by those historic schools.
The podcast is part of the AJC’s series “HBCUs: A Threatened Heritage,” which checks in on the health of HBCUs and explores why some experts fear that one-quarter of those schools could be gone within two decades.
You can listen to the "HBCU Journeys" episodes below, or go to the Apple Podcast store to hear the entire series.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Episode 1: Ice Ice Baby
Robert Cole is a 1987 graduate of Morehouse College and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. In 1988, Robert and his chapter brothers appeared in Spike Lee’s classic, “School Daze.” Robert sat down to talk about his star turn in the movie.
Credit: William Thweatt
Credit: William Thweatt
Episode 2: Think Clark
Lisa Haygood is a 1990 graduate of Clark Atlanta University. A second generation “Clarkite,” Haygood followed her mother to the school. As a student at CAU, Lisa was recruited for an internship by an old long-lost family friend.
Credit: William Thweatt
Credit: William Thweatt
Episode 3: A new goal every day
Imani Watts is a Spelman College sophomore from Los Angeles. Majoring in dance with a double minor in fashion design and business management, Imani is already laying down a foundation to become a business mogul.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Episode 4: Do what makes you uncomfortable
Karen Wood is a 2016 graduate of Spelman College. Her journey through college is even more remarkable since she did it at an advanced age, after raising her children and establishing her career.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Episode 5: Like I had a second mother and father
Carlton Riddick is a 1993 graduate of Johnson C. Smith University. While Carlton spent some of his summers in Charlotte, the New Yorker faced a culture shock when he found himself “Down South” for college.
Credit: William Thweatt
Credit: William Thweatt
Episode 6: Mr. President
Wayne Haydin graduated from Southern University in 2004 and from the law school in Class of 2009. During his senior year, Haydin made history by doing something that no one had ever done in the long history of the school.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Episode 7: What I needed
Sara White is a 1993 graduate of Clark Atlanta University. A native of Minneapolis, White came to Atlanta for her freshman year having had little interaction with black culture. That changed quickly.
Episode 8: Of Chidley and the Chicken Man
Donald Mason Jr. is a 1989 graduate of North Carolina Central University. Anyone with an affiliation or glancing knowledge of NCCU knows about Chidley Hall, the hulking dormitory on the hill that nearly every man in the school’s history has lived in. Mason tells his story about living in Chidley.
Credit: Curtis Compton
Credit: Curtis Compton
Episode 9: A picture worth a thousand words
Tiffany Greene is a 2014 graduate of Spelman College. The idea of this podcast series came about after the HBCU series team found a graduation photograph of Greene taken by AJC photographer Curtis Compton. He says it is one of his best shots. She has a different opinion about it.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Episode 10: The best decision I ever made
Karvis Jones is a 2003 graduate of Rust College. Few people love their college as much as Karvis. Listen to his story about how Rust College has been a part of him since he was a child.
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