If you are traveling to A&T, or have traveled to any HBCU homecoming in North Carolina this month, make sure you take a moment to reflect on the impact made by contributing to our nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. Since HBCUs began to be established in the mid-1800s, they have served as institutions where Black people can access higher education in a supportive and welcoming environment. HBCUs have shaped the lives of countless students since those early years, and they continue to do so.

Data on HBCUs demonstrate that they actually help to fuel the growth of the middle class in the United States. This and other facts about HBCUs can be found in the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) research project known as The HBCU Effect, which “seeks to understand, validate and promote the success of HBCUs to develop a counter narrative that fully illustrates the value and competitiveness” of these institutions.

Recently the Biden administration invested $307 million to the ten HBCUs in the Tar Heel State alone. Check out this week’s U-Turn video where host Suzette Webb lets us in on three reasons why this should matter to the people of the great State of North Carolina.