Earlier this week I was in Nashville co-hosting an Every Nation collegiate conference. The 103 Conference put on by AARM (African American Resource Ministry) attempted to bring together students from today’s 103 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs for short.

Historically Black Colleges sprouted up all around the U.S. but mostly in the South during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They came as a solution within the African community to Jim Crow laws the disenfranchisement of Black Americans from participation in other opportunities for Higher Education. HBCUs have since developed a reputation for producing high quality results with limited resources. To this day HBCUs across America are still producing top quality journalists, entrepreneurs, educators and a plethora of other leaders. 

Noteworthy HBCU Graduates include Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Keenan Ivory Wayans and Martin Luther King Jr. to name just a few. For a more extensive list of famous graduates you can find one here. 

While there is much work to be done on all fronts of campus ministry and outreach but the HBCUs are largely untouched by campus ministry efforts. These campuses are the most strategic and accessible bridges towards both the inner city and African nations. 

As we reach students on the HBCUs of America my hope is that we will have the grace to raise up a movement of  men and women with integrity with minds renewed by the Word and hearts empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring a holy transformation to our society and laborers for the foreign lands. 

Thanks to Pastor Shino and all those who helped make this conference happen. This was a first ever of what we intend to be an annual conference. If you missed it this year, mark it on your calendar for next year! It was powerful.