The Black College Sports & Education Foundation

HBCUs "Who's Who" Famous Alumnus

Stacy Abrams
Politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives.  Yale Law School alumna.

Rosalyn Brewer
CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance, group president and COO of Starbucks, and CEO of Sam’s Club. Spelman College alumna.

Oprah Winfrey
Talk show host, television producer, actress, author, media proprietor and philantropist. Tennessee State University alumna.

Kamala Harris
Politician, attorney and 49th and current vice president of the United States. Howard University alumna

A Bit of History

For over 150 years, The privilege to serve in Black colleges, and share in the triumphs in academics and sports showed in the passion and dedication of those who served. 
In that span of time, some of the world’s most highly successful people have stepped upon the world’s stages from these schools, including civil rights and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King, (Morehouse), educator Mary McLeod Bethune (Bethune Cookman),

television magnate Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State), the National Football League all-time greatest wide receiver (NFL Hall of Fame) Jerry Rice (Miss Valley State), movie filmmaker Skip Lee (Morehouse), ex-Microsoft president Michael Thompson (Florida A&M), Rosalyn Brewer (Spelman), president and CEO of Sam’s Club; Michael Strahan (Texas Southern), co-host, ABC’s Morning Show and NFL Hall of Fame.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Here is a sampling of “Who’s Who” HBCU successful alumni who dot the landscape in contemporary American society.

Business...Celebrities

Natalie White-FAMU

Natalie White
Senior Vice President
of the Los Angeles Sparks.
Florida A&M alumna

Michael Strahan
TV personality, journalist,
and NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. Texas Southern Alum.

Jerry Rice
Pro Football Hall of Fame
all-time record holder wide 
reciever. Mississippi Valley alumna.

Samuel L. Jackson
Actor and producer.
Morehouse alumnus

Solid contributors to the corporate world and sports and entertainment begins with some well-known figures. Oprah Winfrey became one of television’s iconic talk show host and a billionaire  philanthropist. Michael Strahan and Jerry Rice are record-setting NFL Hall of Famers. Rosalyn Brewer is COO of Starbucks and the former President and CEO of Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 

The Foundations

Booker T. Washington
Educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Hampton Institute alumna.

George Washington Carver
 Agricultural scientist,  inventor and a professor at Tuskegee Institute. Iowa State alumna

Thurgood Marshall
Civil rights lawyer and Supreme Court  justice. 
Lincoln University, PA, Howard Law School alumna.

Martin L. King
Baptist minister, prominent
civil rights leader and
Nobel Prize recipient. Morehouse alumna

Booker T. Washington rose from slavery to become one of the early top educators and founded Tuskegee Institute. George Washington Carver created a whole array of industries based on the simple peanut. Thurgood Marshall (Lincoln University, PA/Howard University School of Law) became the first black Justice on the Supreme Court in 1967 after being a major figure in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Civil Rights Movement. Then, there was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Morehouse College grad who became the symbol of the movement and a world renowned leader in civil rights.

Sports Icons

The long list of great coaches, players, administrators, presidents and supporters who spent a lifetime of dedicated service to the development and growth of black colleges (HBCUs) continues. For more, see Black College Sports History & Legends

Eddie G. Robinson, Sr.

Alonza “Jake” Gaither

Clarence Gaines, Sr.

George “Pup” Williams

John B. McLendon, Jr.

The legendary Eddie Robinson led Grambling State University from Louisiana to national prominence and became the all-time winning-est college football coach in history.
Alonza “Jake” Gaither was a dynamic leader and mentor at Florida A&M University where he produced a football dynasty. Clarence “Bighouse” Gaines led a fabulous Wintson-Salem State  Rams to the 1967 NCAA Div. II Championship – the first for a HBCU. Today, George “Pup” Williams has won 37 national track and field championships at St. Augustine’s College – a monumental accomplishment considering the size of the school.  

There’s not enough time to lament about the great John B. McLendon, Jr. who was part of the Black Coaches Steering Committee which led the crusade to open up the national college basketball platform so that Black colleges who were raring to show the world they could compete. Along the way, he led the Tennessee State Tigers to the first back to back to back (1957,’58,’59) national championships in NAIA history. Oher greats like Ed Temple, Tennessee State, Dr. Leroy T. Walker, NC Central, Barbara Jacket, Prairie A&M, and Victor Thomas, Lincoln University of Missouri, led their track and field program to national championships.

About Us

Black College Sports & Education Foundation
– the gateway to unlimited access to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
We offer a  free Comprehensive Preparatory Assistance Program .

Our Mission

· Provide a seamless transition for prospective 
  students and athletes who wish to attend an   HBCU or other institutions. 
· Support the preservation of HBCUs through   promotion and recruitment.

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