Aggies marched to the polls. The band led the way. 🎺

In partnership with

Hey fam,

October said: show up.

Aggies marched to the polls with the band leading the way. Enrollment hit record highs. And homecoming season is still rolling, with A&T's 100th GHOE kicking off right now.

Plus four scholarships and internships with deadlines coming up.

Let's get into it. 👇🏾

They Moved the Polls. Aggies Brought the Band.

A HBCU Roundup exclusive.

Some walks are longer than others.

On Thursday, Oct. 22, hundreds of North Carolina A&T State University students gathered on the lawn in front of the February One monument. That statue honors four A&T freshmen who sat down at a segregated Greensboro lunch counter in 1960 and helped spark a movement.

Then they started walking.

Here's the backstory. 👀

In 2024, A&T had an early voting site right on campus. In 2026? None.

This summer, the Guilford County Board of Elections voted 4-1 for an early voting plan with no campus sites at A&T or UNC Greensboro, even after students pushed to keep them.

The county board majority said a new Union Square site, plus the downtown courthouse site, would cover students' needs.

Because the vote wasn't unanimous, the plan went to the NC State Board of Elections, which approved it in August.

So the closest option became Union Square on East Gate City Boulevard. That's up to a 45-minute walk.

And Aggies answered the only way they know how.

The first march was Oct. 16, with more than 100 students from A&T, UNCG and Bennett College. Thursday's march was bigger. The Blue and Gold Marching Machine's Cold Steel drumline led the way. Marsai Martin and Trinity Tatum of When We All Vote walked right behind the band.

And the chant carried down the street: "Bring our polls back." ✊🏾

Junior Trinity Dobson said it best:

"We're never going to stop fighting for what we want, because this is our future."

Here's why it matters.

Sixty-six years separate the Greensboro Four from this generation of Aggies. Same campus. Same instinct. When the path gets harder, you show up anyway.

Different generation. Different fight. Same Aggie Pride.

Wherever you land on where polling sites should go, the students did the work: they organized, they turned out, and they made sure their classmates got there too.

That's not just a protest moment. That's a leadership moment.

And the timing? Poetic. This week A&T kicks off its 100th Greatest Homecoming on Earth (Oct. 25–Nov. 1). That's a century of coming home, and the newest chapter of A&T history is being written in sneakers on Gate City Boulevard.

🗳️ Guilford County: early voting runs through Sat., Oct. 31. Election Day is Tue., Nov. 3.
👉🏾 Everywhere else: find your early voting dates and sites at https://vote.gov

From February One to Union Square. That's legacy in motion. 💙💛

Did your HBCU years shape how you show up for your community? Hit reply and tell us.

High school senior or about to graduate? There's something here for you. Deadlines are coming in hot. 👇🏾

Ron Brown Scholarship | $40,000 ($10K a year for four years) ​

For Black high school seniors with strong academics, leadership, community service and financial need.
⏰ Deadline: Dec. 1 ​
➡️ Apply

HBCU CONNECT Student Scholarship | Up to $1,000

For high school seniors, transfer students and current HBCU students. Covers tuition or books.
⏰ Deadline: Dec. 1 ​
➡️ Apply

🎓 Need more scholarship options? We keep the list updated year-round.

➡️ Browse HBCU Scholarships

CBCF Internship Programs | $3,000 stipend + housing

Nine weeks in Washington, D.C. (May 24–July 23, 2027), on Capitol Hill or with corporate partners. Open to sophomores through recent grads.
⏰ Deadline: Nov. 30
➡️ Apply here

NBA Summer Internship Program | $26–$40/hour

Ten weeks in New York (June 7–Aug. 13, 2027), with a hybrid option. For rising seniors and grad students.
⏰ Applications open now. Apply early.
➡️ Apply here

➡️ See all open internships

🏆 Moment of the Month: YES HBCU Bahamas Classic

HBCU football is going international. 🌴

On Sat., Nov. 7, Morehouse College and Kentucky State University take the field at Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau for the YES HBCU Bahamas Classic.

It's the first international trip in Morehouse football history.

And the history runs deep: Bethune-Cookman played in the first college football game ever held in The Bahamas, back in 1991.

The weekend brings a Bahamian tailgate, youth flag football clinics, and Divine Nine organizations on site to talk college with local families.

HBCU culture travels. Period. ✊🏾

➡️ See every 2026 HBCU classic on one page

HBCU Enrollment Is Booming 📈 ​

Fall 2026 numbers are in, and HBCUs are posting records. Florida Memorial doubled to 2,556 students, the largest in its 147-year history. Edward Waters hit its highest enrollment in more than 20 years.

FMU's president calls 2,556 "our new floor." Not the peak.

➡️ See the school-by-school scoreboard

HBCU Grads Make the Ebony Power 100 🌟 ​

Ebony's 2026 Power 100, themed "The Stories We Shape," includes Debbie Allen (Howard), Megan Thee Stallion (Texas Southern) and Common (Florida A&M). The class gets celebrated Nov. 9 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

The Yard raised them. Now the culture's watching.

➡️ Read more

America's Next Black Medical School Is Coming 🩺 ​

Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine earned preliminary accreditation, making it the only HBCU college of medicine in the Gulf South. Its first class starts summer 2027, with applications opening through AMCAS soon.

Why it matters: HBCU medical schools train nearly 70% of the nation's Black doctors.

➡️ Read more

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Become An AI Expert In Just 5 Minutes

If you’re a decision maker at your company, you need to be on the bleeding edge of, well, everything. But before you go signing up for seminars, conferences, lunch ‘n learns, and all that jazz, just know there’s a far better (and simpler) way: Subscribing to The Deep View.

This daily newsletter condenses everything you need to know about the latest and greatest AI developments into a 5-minute read. Squeeze it into your morning coffee break and before you know it, you’ll be an expert too.

Subscribe right here. It’s totally free, wildly informative, and trusted by 600,000+ readers at Google, Meta, Microsoft, and beyond.

📸 Straight from the Yard

Hundreds of Aggies. One drumline. Up to a 45-minute walk to the polls. 🎺
If you missed the moment everybody was talking about this month, start here.🎥: @peasywulf

Not following yet? Tap in at @hbculifestyle so you never miss a moment like this. 💙💛

🔗 Follow Us on Instagram 

That's a wrap on October, fam.

If this issue made you proud, forward it to somebody who needs it in their inbox. And if your HBCU is doing something big, hit reply. We want to hear about it.

Next month, we're bringing the holiday season, HBCU style. 🎁

Until next time, keep showing up.

✊🏾 The HBCU Lifestyle Team

#HBCULifestyle #HBCURoundup #NCAT #AggiePride #GHOE #HBCUHomecoming #HBCUs #ChooseHBCU

P.S. — Winter scholarship deadlines are stacking up. Find your next award in our HBCU Scholarship Directory 👉🏾 HBCU Scholarship Directory