Across Historically Black Colleges and Universities, a new academic year is underway. Students are returning to familiar campuses or stepping onto them for the first time—bringing with them ambitions for their education, their careers, their families, and their communities.
Autumn also marks the return of traditions that bring the broader HBCU community together. Homecomings and HBCU Classics reconnect generations of alumni with today’s students and remind us of the extraordinary networks of people, institutions, and communities surrounding these campuses.
At Student Freedom Initiative, the beginning of a new academic year brings us back to a simple idea: start with students. Start with their talent and aspirations, understand what they need to reach the future they envision, and build the support and partnerships around them to help make that future possible.
This month, we celebrate a new beginning—and some of the people and institutions creating opportunity for the next generation.
President’s Message by Keith B. Shoates, President & CEO
There is something special about the beginning of an academic year at a Historically Black College or University. Campuses come alive as students return to classrooms, reconnect with friends and mentors, and begin imagining what another year of learning might make possible.
At Student Freedom Initiative, those students are where our work begins.
Being student-centered requires us to continually ask an important question: What does this student need to reach the future they are working toward?
The answer will not be the same for everyone.
For one student, the immediate need may be a responsible way to finance the remaining cost of a degree. For another, an unexpected expense may threaten their ability to stay enrolled. Others may be thinking about how to build financial stability, secure an internship, develop a professional network, or make the transition from graduation into a meaningful career.
That is why we begin with the student and the outcome they are working toward—not with a particular program or product. Responsible financing, emergency and completion support, financial capability, career readiness, and strong institutional partnerships are different tools that can help surround students throughout their journey.
And none of us can do this work alone, rather we do it though coordination across public, private and philanthropic channels to leverage our strengths collectively. HBCUs know their students and communities. Private sector partners can open doors to experience and careers. Philanthropic and community partners can bring resources, relationships, and new possibilities.
When those pieces come together around students, education can become an even more powerful pathway to opportunity.
As another academic year begins, I am excited about what lies ahead. Most of all, I am inspired by the students themselves—and by our shared responsibility to help ensure their talent and ambition can take them as far as possible.
Keith B. Shoates, PMPPresident & CEOStudent Freedom Initiative
Fall on an HBCU campus brings an unmistakable energy. Students return to classrooms, marching bands begin rehearsing, alumni make plans to come home, and football Classics bring together communities from across the country.
The games may bring everyone together, but the community surrounding them is what makes these traditions so powerful.
Homecomings and HBCU Classics connect generations. Students share space with alumni who once walked the same campus paths. Families celebrate institutions that have shaped generations. Employers, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and community organizations become part of a network that can open doors long after the final whistle.
For students, those connections matter.
A conversation can become a mentor. An introduction can lead to an internship. Seeing alumni thriving in their careers can expand a student’s sense of what is possible. And the relationships surrounding HBCUs demonstrate that the value of these institutions extends far beyond the classroom.
This fall, Student Freedom Initiative will join the HBCU community at select Classics, homecomings, and other gatherings. Our goal is not simply to be present, but to listen, strengthen relationships, and connect more people with the students and institutions at the center of our work.
As homecoming season begins, we celebrate what these gatherings represent: community, connection, tradition, and generations investing in what comes next.
Follow along this fall as SFI joins HBCU communities across the country.
Across higher education, the decline in Black male enrollment, persistence, and completion has prompted important conversations about what institutions can do differently. At Benedict College, President and CEO Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis is working to turn that conversation into action.
Benedict has made supporting Black male students an intentional institutional priority—one that begins with access but extends through academic achievement, leadership development, career readiness, and graduation.
This fall, that commitment is taking another step forward with the launch of the B.E.S.T. Leadership Institute, a new initiative focused specifically on strengthening outcomes for Black male students.
Supported by a $100,000 investment from The Boulé Foundation, the Institute will provide participating students with individualized academic success plans, proactive academic support, financial aid navigation, leadership development, and structured career preparation. The goal is not simply to bring more Black men to campus, but to create the conditions for them to thrive once they arrive.
That work builds on years of intentional effort at Benedict.
President Artis has written openly about the national decline in Black male enrollment at HBCUs and Benedict’s determination to challenge that trend. While the share of Black men attending HBCUs nationally has fallen substantially over the past several decades, Black male enrollment at Benedict has consistently represented between 42% and 48% of its student body for nearly a decade.
The College has approached the challenge from multiple directions. Its Minority Male Initiative hosts Barber Shop Talks that create opportunities for mentorship and candid conversation. A partnership with 100 Black Men of America expands mentoring and scholarship opportunities. Academic advising, career counseling, mental health support, leadership development, STEM opportunities, and alumni engagement provide additional layers of support around students.
And Benedict continues to build momentum.
53% of Benedict College’s incoming traditional undergraduate class is male—the second consecutive year men have represented a majority.
But Benedict’s leadership is clear that enrollment is only the beginning.
As Vice President for Enrollment Management Yohannis Job said in announcing the incoming class, the College’s responsibility is to ensure that every new Tiger has the opportunity to “persist, graduate, and succeed.” This coupled with the eHBCU consortium, where participating institutions are expanding cross-campus course access so students can take needed classes at partner HBCUs when they are unavailable on their home campus is significantly expanding reach and educational impact.
That philosophy is what makes Benedict’s work especially relevant to Student Freedom Initiative.
At SFI, we believe HBCUs play a critical role in creating pathways to opportunity and economic mobility. Doing so requires more than identifying the challenges students face. It means responding with intentionality, resources, partnerships, and a commitment to students’ long-term success.
Through the B.E.S.T. Leadership Institute and its broader work supporting Black male students, Benedict College is putting action behind that commitment.
And with support from partners like The Boulé Foundation, it is demonstrating what is possible when institutions and philanthropy work together to invest in students—not simply in reaching college, but in everything that comes next.
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Every new academic year begins with possibility—with students imagining where their education might take them and what they might accomplish along the way.
Student Freedom Initiative works alongside HBCUs and partners to help surround that ambition with resources, relationships, and opportunities that can help students stay on track toward graduation, career, and long-term economic mobility.
Your support helps make that work possible.
Together, we can help ensure that talent and ambition—not financial circumstance—determine how far students can go.