Community, Commitment and Connection: The HBCU Experience

Valonda Calloway, 52, always felt connected to Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). After all, most of her family on her dad’s side graduated from the university, and she grew up being carted around campus to basketball games and other college events.

Looking at her family and the careers they had, she knew it was where she wanted to go.

“Seeing it for myself, it just felt like home,” she said.

A Storied History

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) were the only option for Black Americans for a long time and the fact that they have persisted is one reason they are celebrated today. Congress defines an HBCU as a "historically Black college or university established before 1964, with a primary mission of educating Black Americans."

And these colleges and universities will be the destination for scores of high school seniors this fall. Many of these students will find the same sense of belonging Calloway did. And that is truer in North Carolina than anywhere else. We have more four-year HBCUs than any other state in the nation. Ten to be exact. Not only that, but North Carolina educates the most HBCU students in the country, has the largest HBCU, and had the very first state-supported HBCU institution. Let’s look at some of those historical firsts.

• North Carolina Central University started life in 1909. It was the first state-supported liberal arts college for Black students in the country.
• Greensboro’s Bennett College is one of only two Historically Black all-women’s colleges in the country, and one of only three all-women’s colleges in North Carolina.
• North Carolina A&T State University is the nation’s largest HBCU.
• Winston-Salem State University, established in 1892, was the first Black university to have degrees in elementary education. It also became the first HBCU to win the NCAA basketball championship in 1967.
• A report from the United Negro College Fund found that NC HBCU’s have a collective $1.7 billion economic impact on the state.

“What collection of universities has that kind of power ?” asked Rep. Zack Hawkins, D-Durham, 45, a two-time graduate of NC HBCUs. “These institutions can change the world and deserve to be on the same playing field – in stature, funding, and attention – as any other institution in North Carolina.”

A Family Tradition

The experience of going to an HBCUs doesn’t necessarily have to be singular. In Calloway’s case, WSSU was embedded in her bloodstream. Most of her family on her father’s side are alums. Their time in higher education impacted them so much that they passed it along to Calloway. And they stayed involved after she got to campus.

Her Uncle Vic introduced her to the advisor for the university yearbook as soon as Calloway got to campus. He loved working on the yearbook and figured she would, too.

“I don’t think he even asked me if I wanted to be on the yearbook,” she said.

Her Aunt Angie and her husband were both alums of WSSU and lived in Winston-Salem, so if Calloway needed a respite from campus life, she didn’t have far to go.

Her cousin Mike, also an alum, told her that when she got to her dorm, she needed to look up another student named Princess. So, Calloway went off on a hunt her first day and found a woman who would become a friend and fellow teammate on the cheerleading team.

But it wasn’t just her literal family that made her feel welcome. It was the people she met along the way. In addition to cheerleading and yearbook, Calloway was a member of student government, joined the campus radio staff, and pledged a sorority her junior year.

“I always felt part of a community,” she said. “I never felt lost…and that is something I would not change for anything.”

Valonda Calloway flying in the air while on the cheerleading team at Winston-Salem State University. Photo courtesy of Valonda Calloway.

Hawkins, too, had a family history with the state’s HBCUs. His grandmother was a 1954 graduate of Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), where he went to undergrad. Her sister graduated there about four years later. They were an example that stuck with him when it came time to go to college.

Growing up in North Carolina, his family had the usual sports allegiances – Duke, State, Carolina – and one of his sisters went to UNC-Chapel Hill while another chose NC State University. But Hawkins said he wanted something different. And visiting ECSU prior to becoming a student there solidified that desire.

“I just sort of fell in love with the atmosphere of a place where essentially race was non-existent,” he said, adding later. “It was a place that I thought had the ability to turn me into the professional that I wanted to become.”

He said he saw the dividends paid by HBCUs to the generation of Black North Carolinians his grandmother’s age who graduated from schools during segregation.

“If it was good enough for them and they turned out to be changemakers in their community, then it was good enough for me,” he said.

While Hawkins didn’t have the same connections on campus as Calloway, he had his grandmother’s experience to guide him. She was active in public schools and served on the local Board of Education. So, when Hawkins went to ECSU, he joined the student government, rising to the rank of Vice President. Through that, he even ended up being a student intern to the North Carolina Democratic Party and getting involved in voter registration for the 2000 Bush v. Gore election. He would go on to graduate school at North Carolina Central University. And his college experiences would set the stage for his eventual role in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Rep. Zack Hawkins, D-Durham, speaking at North Carolina Central University. Photo courtesy of Zack Hawkins.

For some people, college isn’t just a place to find out what you want, but also to find out what you don’t want. That was the case for Dr. Veronica Edge, 44, supervisor of secondary school counseling and student records for New Hanover County Schools. Her sister went to St. Augustine’s University, but when it was her turn, Edge chose Fayetteville State University (FSU). She would go on to transfer and finish her four-year degree at Shaw University.

She initially wanted to be a teacher, along with a cohort of her classmates. But the more they explored the path, the more they realized it wasn’t for them. For Edge, she always knew she wanted to be in a helping profession, but what she realized in college was that a supporting role would suit her better than leading a classroom.

And much like Hawkins and Calloway, she found a home away from home on campus.

“When my family wasn’t there, of course my teachers were there, or my friends were there,” she said, adding later: “My love is for HBCUs because I recognize that was my foundation. It helped me be who I am today.”

A Lifelong Commitment

For these alums, their dedication to their colleges, and HBCUs generally, is one that has persisted all these years after graduation.

Through her job as a counselor, Edge gets the opportunity to make the case for HBCUs to her students.

“I tell students this every day. They have the same programs and the same opportunities as the other schools,” she said. “The HBCUs definitely give you the connection you will never forget.”

But she also says she encourages her students that wherever they plan to go, they make sure it feels like “A breath of fresh air,” and where they need to be.

Dr. Veronica Edge. Photo graphic courtesy of Dr. Veronica Edge.

That was certainly the case for Calloway. She said WSSU was a place where she felt like she could belong.

“I feel like even though we’re in 2025, so often people who are considered minorities in this country…can feel othered, and when you go to an HBCU, you don’t feel othered,” she said. “You’re simply part of the community.”

She said having that sense of belonging and comfort allowed her to focus on fulfilling her dreams. It was in the school of communications that she pursued her lifelong love of broadcasting, which led her after college to go into journalism.

She’s been a reporter, a TV anchor, and even hosted her own program called “My Carolina Today.” Today she no longer does journalism but keeps her feet in the media world in a variety of ways: through presentation and media coaching, TV hosting, and doing voice-over and spokesperson work.

And she is also continuing the HBCU tradition through her 17-year-old daughter, who recently told her that she is planning on attending WSSU. Calloway said she and her husband – also a WSSU grad – tried hard not to pressure her daughter into going to the same university they did.

“However, we have exposed her,” Calloway said. “So, she’s been going to football games her entire life. I even have photos of me in the stands pregnant with her.”

Her daughter also recently told Calloway that she wants to go out for the cheerleading team. Calloway was delighted but also a little hesitant. She is in the hall of fame for cheerleading at the university and said she didn’t want her daughter to feel any pressure. But they’ve gotten through that, and Calloway has started showing her daughter some of the unique WSSU style she will need to succeed on the team.

Valonda Calloway being inducted for cheerleading into the Winston-Salem State University Clarence E. "Big House" Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of Valonda Calloway.

Hawkins is carrying on the HBCU legacy in a different way. In 2019, he was elected to the North Carolina legislature. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of two Democratic General Assembly members he looked up to: Civil rights activist Mickey Michaux (now retired), and Alma Adams, Hawkins’ former seat mate at the legislature who went on to Congress and started an HBCU Caucus there. In 2023, Hawkins got his wish. He started a bipartisan and bicameral HBCU Caucus for North Carolina that continues to this day.

“When you tell the collective stories – the economic impact, and the students that they educate: what they go on to do – it’s really compelling,” he said of HBCUs.

Hawkins said that there are so many people on both sides of the political spectrum at the legislature who had HBCU experience or had HBCUs in the counties they represented. Sometimes, when legislators who had HBCUs in their district weren’t Black, Hawkins said they might not know how to engage the colleges even though they wanted to.

Additionally, some HBCU leaders didn’t feel like they could come to the General Assembly to advocate on their colleges’ behalf the way other leaders did. The caucus set about changing all that.

“People were able to be responsible for advocating for the universities, showing up, inviting the chancellors, and doing tours,” he said.

 A Place Where You Can Just Be

The impact of these colleges and universities on Calloway, Hawkins, and Edge continues to reverberate for them in the present. And they want the current generation to experience that impact, too. All three at various times talked about the need for Black students to think of HBCUs as a first choice rather than a backup option. It’s a place, Calloway said, where you don’t have to explain yourself. People already understand.

“You’re able to focus on your studies, make better grades, find community and find people who get you,” Calloway said. “And I think that’s one of the greatest benefits of an HBCU. You’re able to just be .”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you’re thinking about attending an HBCU, you can explore your options here.