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BEMO: We are in the Aviation School of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

We really about to see how these hawks fly, for real.

You see these planes.

Let HBCU know, they got their own plane, they got their own plane.

Welcome to "HBCU Week" from the campus of University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland, I am your cultural correspondent, Bryant "BEMO" Brown.

This special presentation lays out what you can expect to see from "HBCU Week" on Maryland Public Television.

♪ BYRON JUANE: Oh no my guy, no don't you play yourself.

♪ ♪ Who the king with the crown, ♪ ♪ there ain't nobody else.

♪ ♪ Know I go pound for the pound, ♪ ♪ I'm looking for opps when they 'round, ♪ ♪ and know I'm the Don of this town, ♪ ♪ and it just turned back into day ♪ ♪ it ain't no thing to leave you done, ♪ ♪ just from a pop of the trunk, ♪ ♪ it ain't no team, it ain't no squads, ♪ ♪ it's just my dawgs in the cut.

♪ ♪ So now you hurt, now you cut, ♪ ♪ try Neosporin for bandage, ♪ ♪ bets turn your pain to advantage, ♪ ♪ and take that back as a lesson, ♪ ♪ I grabbed that trophy off shelf, ♪ ♪ I got that gold on me, ♪ ♪ oh see that boy, he got that drip, ♪ ♪ he got that storm, don't he?

♪ ♪ Storms coming, rain flooding, ♪ ♪ I couldn't be on the team opposing him, ♪ ♪ you stuck like being friends, ♪ ♪ I'm close like next of kin, ♪ ♪ got dream in my eye, ♪ ♪ for the team not just I, ♪ ♪ keep this in line like chiropractic, ♪ ♪ accounted it's being added... ♪♪ ♪ ♪ BEMO: Today, we stand on the vast land of opportunity, that is the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

UMES, like all historically Black colleges and universities adheres to a doctrine that the finest institutions provide the highest quality and most applicable education for future generations.

Now, when you hear historic, I know you conjure up assumptions about things happening on campus from the late 1900s, that's no longer the case.

UMES, like all HBCUs are on the forefront of education, technology, and even innovation.

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is hard at work providing a 94% first-pass rate for qualified pharmacists.

UMES touts a brand-new center of entrepreneurism funded by the government.

And as high school students are trying to figure out alternative ways to get into college, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is busting at the seams with three consecutive years of growth in enrollment, including this year being the highest year for applications.

How are they doing it?

Well, my partner Tetiana Anderson, is gonna talk to the President of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

And we're gonna hit campus to see if we can't find out what inspires these hawks to fly.

And later watch me crash the party with Tetiana Anderson and Dr. Anderson, the Andersons.

♪ Welcome to my rodeo, ♪ ♪ welcome to my rodeo, ♪ ♪ welcome to my... ♪♪ BEMO: Welcome To "HBCU Week," I'm here with my friend Neima.

Neima, what's going on?

NEIMA: Hi, nice to meet you, how are you?

BEMO: Nice to meet you, I'm beautiful.

NEIMA: Good.

BEMO: It's so wonderful, it's so wonderful in here.

Just introduce yourself to me and the people.

NEIMA: Yeah, so my name is Neima, I'm a last-semester senior at UMES and I'm an aviation science student.

BEMO: Just a student?

That's not all... NEIMA: Well, I'm also a flight instructor here... BEMO: That's right, that's right.

NEIMA: At the aviation science.

BEMO: Yeah.

So tell me about your experience at UMES.

NEIMA: It's been amazing.

So I started off as a biochem student, actually, pretty nice.

BEMO: I gotta ask.

NEIMA: Yeah.

BEMO: Biochem?

NEIMA: What made me switch?

BEMO: Yeah.

NEIMA: Yeah.

BEMO: I had to, what happened?

NEIMA: That's the classic question I get anyway.

BEMO: Please.

NEIMA: Yes, so it was purely coincidental 'cause um, UMES is the only four-year degree program for aviation science in Maryland.

And the fact that I got to go here, um, choosing biochem, but then getting to switch was just luck.

BEMO: Luck?

NEIMA: Yeah.

BEMO: So you like tripped into a plane, is that what you're saying?

NEIMA: Basically.

BEMO: Really?

NEIMA: Um, so I had a math professor that I was just in and talking to, I knew I didn't wanna do biochem like a year in, and I was kind of just talking to her, kinda getting to know more about the other programs.

We kind of got to talking, I was like, yeah, I'm interested in aviation, and she's like, oh, there's actually an aviation program, let me introduce you to, um, the program coordinator.

BEMO: Yeah.

NEIMA: Yeah.

He showed me around, showed me the sims, and signed that form that, uh, change of major form right then and there.

BEMO: Right then and there.

NEIMA: It's just done.

BEMO: I'm, I guess I'm just, I'm bewildered by the idea... NEIMA: Yeah.

BEMO: That someone just says, "Oh, I think I want to fly."

NEIMA: As a kid, I kind of always had that, um, I had different toys, that were airplanes.

BEMO: Okay, oh, well, do me a favor.

NEIMA: Yeah.

BEMO: I know that you are a flight instructor now.

NEIMA: Mm-Hmm.

BEMO: We're in front of the sim.

NEIMA: Yeah.

BEMO: Can you show me?

As you see, I have the white shirt on, it means I'm a rookie, right?

NEIMA: The rookie shirt on.

BEMO: Can you show me what this is all about, walk me through it.

NEIMA: I can, sure.

So it's a, an exact replica of what is in the plane almost.

BEMO: Oh, snap.

NEIMA: There you go.

So then the air speed's coming alive and when it gets to 55 is when we start to rotate.

♪ ♪ (laughing).

BEMO: Okay.

Alright, Jacob, you ready man?

JACOB: Absolutely.

BEMO: Jacob, what are we fittin' to do, man?

What are you taking me, where are you taking me?

JACOB: Yeah, so I'll just walk you through a couple things that we usually do on a normal flight, right, so we're gonna taxi out to the runway.

BEMO: Okay.

JACOB: Um, take off.

We'll head down to the south.

Um, I'll show you the campus from the air... BEMO: Really?

JACOB: Absolutely.

BEMO: Oh man, I'm so excited about that, man.

Thank you, Jacob, for taking us up, man.

♪ ♪ The daily lineups this year are absolutely beautiful, from the bountiful sounds of the Bayou Classic to the majestic skies over the Chesapeake Bay, this is "HBCU Week" on MPT.

Who doesn't love a good Monday?

Let's see what's exciting about "HBCU Week" programming, Monday night on Maryland Public Television.

At 7:00, we're going to kick things off with a direct connection special "Welcome to UMES," followed by a look at the CIAA tournament and the historic Bayou Classic an "HBCU Week" special "Beyond The Field."

The night wraps up with the look into the historic Morgan State choir led by none other than the great Nathan Carter in "The Morgan Choir: A Joyful Celebration."

NARRATOR: At historically Black colleges and universities, athletics unite and inspire the community.

MAN: Bayou Classic is, you know, one of the greatest rivalries in, in college football.

NARRATOR: These highly anticipated events are about much more than the game.

MAN: Really what the CIAA is, is producing is, is leaders.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: In 2021 Darrell Roberts set out to recreate a timeless photo to honor the importance of historically Black colleges and universities.

MAN: To be a part of this picture, it's gonna be history.

NARRATOR: HBCU alumni from across the country come together to share their stories and to celebrate the unity and enduring spirit of community.

MAN: What we're doing today is going to be epic.

NARRATOR: "The Historic HBCU Photograph."

♪ Raise thy faithfulness... ♪♪ NARRATOR: Celebrate the finest classical and inspirational harmonies in a concert by the Morgan State University Choir, conducted by the late Dr. Nathan Carter.

This special broadcast will include conversations with former members, alumni, and friends as they reflect on the important role that HBCU choirs play.

Join us for "The Morgan Choir: A Joyful Celebration."

♪ ♪ BEMO: On Tuesday, we keep the energy going, starting at 8:00 PM We travel to Baltimore for the "History of a National Treasure: Morgan State University."

Then we travel down to Virginia to celebrate the legacy of Dr. William R. Harvey for "Hampton University: One of the Wonders of the World."

At 9:30 PM a documentary about the life and legacy of one of the most significant African American leaders in the Reconstruction Era, "George H. White: Searching for Freedom."

We end the night with the narration of legendary Phylicia Rashad and "Alpha Kappa Alpha: A Legacy of Service," enjoy.

NARRATOR: A Baltimore HBCU began as a dream to uplift and educate.

MAN: We started off as the Centenary Biblical Institute.

NARRATOR: The school fought for survival and battled against racism.

WOMAN: The neighbors were very unwelcoming.

NARRATOR: To become today's prestigious HBCU.

MAN: From nine students to nearly 10,000 student population.

NARRATOR: Explore the "History of a National Treasure: Morgan State University."

JACKSON: I've been to all of the HBCUs over the course of my 57 years of life, there's nothing like Hampton.

YOUNG: Hampton University is one of the wonders of the world.

DEVINE: Hampton is unique because it's really truly a family.

It is a place that not only will you go and get an amazing education, but it also prepares you as a young person to really change the world.

SANDERS: I believe that George Henry White is one of the most understudied and underappreciated political figures in United States history.

He understood Black aspiration because he understood it 'cause he had lived it.

WHITE: Obliterate the race hatred, party prejudice, and help us to achieve nobler ends.

♪ ♪ RASHAD: In 1935, women of Alpha Kappa Alpha traveled to the deep south, discovering not the Mississippi often portrayed by Hollywood.

Stunned yet undeterred, they administer healthcare to those in need.

These women are part of a long and rich tradition of providing service to all mankind.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ BEMO: What's up everybody, we're here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, right here in the bookstore.

I'm talking to my man, Keith, Keith, what's going on?

KEITH: Life is good.

I'm proud to be here and I'm humbled to be here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

BEMO: Do me a favor, Keith, and introduce yourself, please.

KEITH: Well, my name is Keith Ceruti the second, I'm the proud son of Keith Ceruti, the first, and Cynthia Ann Makel Ceruti.

I'm a student here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, I am a junior studying aerospace engineering, and I am humbled to be your 55th SGA president for the 2024/2025 year.

BEMO: So, proud man.

They make 'em really good at HBCUs, especially the intros.

Where are you from, you're from Baltimore, right?

KEITH: I'm from Baltimore, Maryland, born and raised.

BEMO: Okay, I was driving out here and I was coming from around Baltimore and I kept driving and I kept driving.

KEITH: It's, it, it's a long drive.

BEMO: Hold on, hold on.

And I kept driving, then I crossed the bridge.

What got you out here to University of Maryland Eastern Shore?

KEITH: So what brought me here is really, it's the culture, it's the academics and it's the distance.

BEMO: Yeah.

KEITH: So, growing up in Baltimore, I'm actually on the east side of Baltimore and I've had a harder life.

And that's part of my story.

And I've discussed that with some students.

And I wanted to get away from Baltimore City.

It's my home, I love it.

But at the end of the day, I know that if I were to progress as a person, if I allowed my, if I'm remaining on the corner, my perspective will corner me.

BEMO: Yeah.

KEITH: So I brought myself here and they're the only HBCU in the state of Maryland that offers aerospace engineering.

Every other HBCU offers any different type of engineering except for aerospace.

And we're now bringing on biomedical, which sets us apart in another way.

And then additionally it was the culture.

So we're very big on, and our, our actual motto is "facta non verba," which is Latin for "deeds, not words."

And as a man of actions, that's perfect for me.

BEMO: Wow, so you left Baltimore to fly.

Tell me more about this aerospace program, I am blown away.

KEITH: So we have aviation science and aerospace engineering.

So I'll talk about aviation sciences a little bit 'cause it's one of our unique programs here.

As a HBCU, we offer our first-year students here can get their commercial pilot license.

And then what for me is aerospace engineering, so that's my major, my concentration, and a part of that program, what we have is the ability to develop and design.

So during your first year, you'll actually work with NASA in developing an instructional pamphlet to design a wind tunnel to then actually physically produce that wind tunnel to give you the ideas of what it's like to engineer something from the ground up.

BEMO: A wind tunnel.

KEITH: Additionally, we'll also...

I think you, I think, did he just tell me that first-year student can fly and a first-year student can work with NASA here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore?

KEITH: Here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

BEMO: I just wanna make sure I got it right, okay.

KEITH: And we also have a model rocket and a large-scale rocket inside of our actual engineering building.

One of our newer buildings on campus.

♪ ♪ BEMO: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is the only public HBCU with an aviation program.

When the instructors and our pilot, Jacob informed me that we would be doing a discovery flight, while I'm experiencing the highest levels of my greatest fear heights, there is something comforting about the University of Maryland Eastern Shore assuring me that I was safe.

And I hear that the end of graduation, there is an airline who is already supporting him with the direct pathway to career, I am astonished, I'm changed after this flight.

Woo.

It might be midweek, but Maryland Public Television does not provide mid-programming.

Check out what "HBCU Week" has in store for you, on Wednesday, at 8:00 PM we start with "Dr. Eddie Henderson: Uncommon Genius," followed by a back-to-back showing of Maryland Public Television's Emmy-winning program "Artworks."

At 8:30 we have the "Imani Grace Special," followed by "The Art of Strings" at 9:30.

After that, we have a behind-the-scenes look into Howard University's premier jazz group with "Afro Blue: A Year In The Life."

We close this musical night out with a look into the 49-year career of legendary Morgan State marching band director Melvin Miles in 2023s, "Sounds of the Game."

Let's get our groove on.

HENDERSON: I can't even fathom a thought of anything that has been left out.

I've been given an overabundance.

MAN: Look, man, I mean, who do we know that's a champion ice skater, a shrink, a medical doctor, and one of the greatest jazz musicians in the world.

♪ ♪ IMANI: My name is Imani Grace, I would describe myself as a Black American artist, jazz to soul, R&B, rock, funk, disco, blues.

And specifically for this performance, because it will be a first time for a lot of folks, who Imani Grace is, I thought, okay, now's the time.

Pull out the bag.

♪ ♪ DR. RANDOLPH: Black people have been composers, string players, woodwind players, brass players, percussion players across many genres, including classical music.

Music is a required study in the Randolph House.

COLE: It has its pros and cons, I'll be honest.

CLARKE: When you know people that well, you automatically mesh, especially when you grow up in the same house.

♪ ♪ ♪ WOMAN: And I love my man like a schoolboy loves his pie ♪ ♪ Bop-ba-da-wow.

♪♪ NARRATOR: Join Afro Blue Howard University's premier vocal jazz ensemble as they invite you to a behind-the-scenes look into what it's like to be a member of this dynamic group.

MAN: Y'all get to see this firsthand.

WOMAN: What drew me to Afro Blue was just their performance aspect.

(vocalizing).

Everything about it was just bomb.

(harmonizing vocals) "Afro Blue: A Year in the Life."

BEMO: Today we are here with the filmmakers behind "Milestone," a story about the Morgan State University marching band and its subject, the former 49-year head band director Mr. Melvin Miles, to investigate how HBCU marching bands actually embody the purpose of HBCUs.

I am your cultural analyst, Bryant "Bemo" Brown, and this is "Sounds of the Game."

BEMO: Alright, y'all, we're heading out to the farm.

♪ Take over this, ♪ ♪ take over this, ♪ ♪ take over this city.

♪♪ BEMO: Alright, welcome back to "HBCU Week," I'm here with my friend Shamia, Shamia what's poppin'?

SHAMIA: Hello, hello, nothing much, how's it going, hanging.

BEMO: It's going good?

SHAMIA: Yes, going good.

BEMO: If you could do me a favor... SHAMIA: Okay.

BEMO: Give us the HBCU intro, you know what I'm talking about.

SHAMIA: Hi, so my name is Shamia.

I'm a senior here at UMES, I am a general AG major with the concentration of poultry science.

So that means I'm a pre-vet major, and I also do some chicken studies too.

BEMO: Poultry science.

SHAMIA: Yeah, poultry science.

BEMO: That's lovely.

SHAMIA: Mm-hmm, it's really cool.

BEMO: Shamia, how did you get to University of Maryland Eastern Shore?

SHAMIA: Well, the funny thing is, I did not start here, I, I, I transferred.

BEMO: Where'd you come from?

SHAMIA: From, from Frostburg State University.

BEMO: Okay.

SHAMIA: FSU.

BEMO: Okay.

SHAMIA; Um, I'm, I am local so I wanted to take a chance and go somewhere far and then I was brought back here, I took some time off.

I met this really good connection and then I ended, I ended up being able to come here.

BEMO: That's awesome.

SHAMIA: Mm-hmm.

BEMO: Um, what's so special about University of Maryland Eastern Shore that you're okay with staying back home?

SHAMIA: Well, I, I got all the animal experience that I needed to start out.

So when I... BEMO: Here?

SHAMIA: Yeah, so when I came out, this is where I started.

♪ The youth is at home, fittin' to hit the road ♪♪ BEMO: I have no frame of reference to being an agriculture student.

SHAMIA: Okay, okay.

BEMO: So like, help me understand what do you do every day, what's your class?

SHAMIA: Okay.

BEMO: How do you study?

What's going on?

SHAMIA: Okay, so as an agricultural student, so for instance, I'm on the science part of things now, I'm done with the agriculture classes.

BEMO: Okay.

SHAMIA: So that was my chicken classes, that was my plant classes, that was my soil classes.

So I learned how to take care of a farm if I wanted.

BEMO: Okay.

SHAMIA: I learned how to manage land if I need to.

BEMO: Yeah.

SHAMIA: Basically proper production.

BEMO: Okay.

SHAMIA: So you gotta have grants, you gotta be a, you gotta be given permission to do a lot of farming, place down your water hose, it's all that.

You gotta have permission to do it, it's not just, "Oh, I want a farm."

BEMO: Seed in the ground.

SHAMIA: Oh... yep, exactly.

BEMO: Yeah.

SHAMIA: Oh, I wanna learn how to do water, uh, run, runoffs, you gotta learn exactly, okay, so where's your water running to?

How is it running?

BEMO: Yeah.

SHAMIA: Is it going downhill?

I can coach someone through it.

I am trusted to do it, 'cause I have been mentored by these individuals, I'm given permission to do things, so not toot my own horn, but very confident in it.

BEMO: Well, I believe in you.

SHAMIA: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

BEMO: You look confident what you're doing... SHAMIA: Yeah, look at me.

BEMO: Alright.

(laughter).

Well, we gonna let the goat get back to goat work, thank y'all for watching "HBCU Week," we'll be right back.

SHAMIA: Yes, thank you.

BEMO: We have so much more programming in store for you on Thursday, you do not wanna miss this action-packed night.

We start with "Sounds of the Game" at 7:30, followed by a look at the 50-year anniversary of a bar-setting sports program with "The Golden Year: Howard Women's Basketball."

Next up, we discover the impact of the legendary CIAA tournament on the city of Baltimore with "Inside the CIAA: Impact."

At 9:00 PM we take a special look into the culture of unique rivalries between HBCUs with "HBCU Week: Tradition and Competition," followed by the resilient story of the all-Black Tennessee A&I Tigers winning three consecutive national championships in "The Dream Whisperer."

We end the night with the unique story about pioneers of an overlooked sport with "The Morgan Lacrosse Story."

You do not wanna miss this Thursday night on MPT.

SAADIA: Our program has been a very dominant program since its inception.

YOLANDA: I have the all-time assist record.

SANYA: I'm the winningest coach in the history of Howard University in any sport.

TY: Howard's always been a global brand.

I've been hearing about Howard since I was young.

DESTINY: One of the things that I felt immediately was the culture.

To me, that's something that Howard prides itself on.

MARGAREE: The legacy of Howard Women's basketball is, is simply excellence.

SHELONDA: Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, CIAA one plus one equals five, boom, we are taking it to another level.

JACQIE: It's exciting to see the lights on the street, the signage on the walkway, I mean, there are signage everywhere.

I mean, if you don't know that CIAA's in Baltimore, then you're missing something.

SHELONDA: Our, our businesses have really raised their hand and they said, how can I lean in?

AL: It's like the greatest sporting tourism event in the world.

♪ ♪ MAN: It's not often that you can say that you have a, um, a rival that now, uh, numbers that are over 101 years.

NARRATOR: Every year, historically Black colleges and universities showcase premier football matchups.

MAN: Some of the greatest players that you now see in football in the Hall of Fame played in HBCUs.

NARRATOR: The spirit of these classic HBCU rivalry.

♪ ♪ BARNETT: My name is Dick Barnett, and I have a story that must be told.

ANNOUNCER: The most exciting shooter in basketball, Dick Barnett.

MAN: Tennessee State, was the first black team to win a national championship.

MAN: They was discriminated against, devastated.

BARNETT: Everything starts with a dream.

NARRATOR: An age-old sport, a longstanding divide, and an underdog team with nothing to lose.

MAN: We viewed the lacrosse team as being part and parcel of the frontline struggle for liberation of America.

MAN: If you level a playing field, I can do everything you can do.

NARRATOR: An all-Black squad become champions in an all-White sport.

MAN: Now that's amazing.

NARRATOR: In "The Morgan Lacrosse Story."

BEMO: And now a special presentation from the engineering building of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a special conversation between university President Dr. Heidi Anderson and Tetiana Anderson.

TETIANA: Welcome to "HBCU Week," thank you for making time for us, we appreciate it.

DR. ANDERSON: Mm-hmm, you are very welcome, and thank you for coming to our beautiful campus.

TETIANA: It is a beautiful campus, and speaking of it being a beautiful campus, this is a land grant... DR. ANDERSON: Oh yes.

TETIANA: College, explain what that means and why that's important.

DR. ANDERSON: It is not just a land grant, we are an 1890 land grant.

So for your audience's sake, I want to be able to help them understand what that really means.

1890 land grant means that basically we were formed and we had funding, funding that came from the federal government.

And that was by a senator named Morrill, almost 100, over 180-something years ago.

We are formed in 1886, and what it means is that our mission is about teaching, research, and service and giving back to the community.

So we focus on helping the community solve those problems that are unique to those areas.

The other reason it is so special is there are only 19, and I, I said that correctly, 19; 1890 universities in the country.

So you think about that we stand on the legacy of history here from the standpoint of being an 1890 land grant and working with our communities.

Here's where the catch comes, when Morrill gave funding, he gave funding first to the 1862s, those are what we call the PWIs.

And he gave them land, gave them money to build universities, to help educate people in those communities, and solve the research problems.

When it came 'round at that time, Black people could not enroll in those institutions.

And so instead, 30 years later, monies were getting set aside just for 1890 universities to enroll, enroll Black people, mostly farmers, engineers, um, mechanical engineers, and agriculture.

And so the base of an 1890 is meaning the connection with the agriculture, with the soil, with the people.

And here at UMES, and I have to look at the, look at the audience and tell them this, we are so proud to be the 1890 Land Grant Institution here in the state of Maryland.

TETIANA: This is, you know, um, um, late, late 1890s, uh, Land Grant University, the mission was research and service when it was founded, how has that mission carried over to today?

DR. ANDERSON: Excellent question, and the, and so our founding mission was teaching research and service.

The way that mission has carried on today is really looking and made being more involved with the community.

So for example, here in the Bay, we know that we have a problem with poultry and with the chickens and the poultry and their, and the litter that comes from chickens, it is destroying our, the environment and the soil.

So the other part we know is here in the Chesapeake Bay, we have, um, a lot of problems with the environment and what's happening with the crabs, the soft crabs, uh, the other marine animals that are in the Bay.

And so our job as an 1890 institution is to connect with those communities and try to make sure we're doing the research, the extension, the work that it takes to take care of those particular issues.

Helping farmers know how to farm in rural areas.

You know, helping them understand how to be more efficient with their farming.

But where we expand that now, and what has happened throughout history is now healthcare has been added as a fundamental part of this particular legacy as a fundamental part of our mission.

And I always love to brag in that as an HBCU, we have more health profession programs than any other HBCU in the country.

We have eight at the present time about to add a ninth, and our eight are high caliber, you're talking not technician-type programs, pharmacy, physician assistants, physical therapy.

And I could go on and on.

TETIANA: Well, you also focus on veterinary medicine and I know that this university holds a special place in the world of HBCUs when it comes to that subject.

What's going on here that's so unique?

DR. ANDERSON: Excellent question, okay, what's going on with the vet program is that is our newest health profession program, and we don't have it yet, but we're about to, there's only one other institution in the whole country that, HBCU that is, that has a vet program and that's Tuskegee in Alabama.

So we will be the second HBCU, yes, to have an vet program.

Why is that so important?

Well, there's a shortage of veterinarians around the world, not just the country, but around the world.

And there's a shortage of diverse veterinarians, less than 3% of the vet, veterinarians out there are Black.

So think about that.

Tuskegee has produced all of the Black veterinarians who are in the country right now, and there's a shortage.

This will add because we will be able to bring in a class of 100 students every year and get them in here and out very, very quickly with a top-quality education to add to the workforce, to add to the economic development.

Tetiana, I don't know if you have a pet, but I have two cats, and when one of them gets sick, there's no place to take them because it is that kind of shortage.

And the farm animals, we need vets to be able to take care of the livestock and those particular, uh, things that happen on farms, and yet that shortage exists.

So where we are with this program right now is that we have gotten approval through our campus, we have now gotten approval all the way through our board of regions.

We have gotten the approval for the program through the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and now we are waiting for the approvals for the veterinary accrediting body, which who visited us just last month.

And so we are so excited because we're expecting to get a really good report from them in December and go to the next phase as to of that, of that approval process.

TETIANA: So, you know, the veterinary aspect of this is just one of many areas of health that you touch upon.

DR. ANDERSON: Mm-Hmm.

TETIANA: You know, I know that you have a passion for pharmacology.

Um, this is sort of your, your where you started, right?

DR. ANDERSON: Yes.

TETIANA: And I know that you do a lot of that work here, tell us about the sort of pharmacy trainings for students, what, what they're doing.

DR. ANDERSON: We'll be happy to, let's see, yes, I'm a pharmacist, uh, and practiced retail when I was a pharmacist and what we do is we train our students to become pharmacists in three years.

The program normally takes four, we do that with our physical therapy program, with our physician assistant program, and now we'll be doing it with our veterinary medicine program.

The reason that's so important is because that One Health, think about that, we will have students who will be able to work together in health professions.

So you can learn to take care of animals and you can learn to take care of people.

And that One Health approach is gonna be so critical to where we're going as a country with more and more people growing in the population, with more people having pets, with more animals on farms, that's going to be a unique feature that is only gonna be here at UMES.

What happens when you go look at healthcare from the standpoint of training as a pharmacist, it's a tough curriculum.

I can tell you I went through it.

(laughs) It will beat you up if you don't watch out for it.

And so you wanna make sure those students not only learn what the skill sets that they need to be able to work, whether it's a retail setting or in a clinical setting, but you want to be sure that they learn the skills to work with other health professionals together.

And so that's one of the attractions that we're gonna be able to have here and that we have now, is students working in an interdisciplinary health professional, uh, format.

TETIANA: And I know when it comes to students specifically, you've, um, your administration has increased enrollment dramatically.

DR. ANDERSON: Ah, yes.

I'm so glad you asked that.

TETIANA: How, how, how hard of a task was that to really boost enrollment the way that you did?

DR. ANDERSON: Extremely hard.

First of all, you have to understand nationally, the number of students going to high schools is decreasing.

Okay?

So typically schools like ours that take students all the way through undergraduate to graduate programs, you are looking at drawing them from the high schools, so you've gotta figure out a way to, what is that secret sauce?

What is that way you're gonna get students to come?

And what we learned when, when I got here seven years ago, we learned that we needed to look at a lot of our strategies.

We needed to regroup.

We needed to step back and look at our policies, look at how we can be a lot more efficient, getting students in, and more importantly, doing it in a way that attracts students in today's generation.

So that means text messaging, it's, uh, social media, uh, all sorts of, you know, quick things that they can get their hands on very quickly.

You can't just focus on just paper and sending them things back and forth, old phone calls, no, they don't do that anymore.

Going just to the high school and setting up a tent, so admit, being very creative.

So we started adding artificial intelligence.

Can you believe it?

Our students, if you're interested in coming to UMES, and they have a question and you've never and been here before, you can go on this chatbot and ask questions up, any 24 hours of the day.

And I've tried it, I've, I've dialed in at like 2:00 AM in the morning.

It says, "What are you doing this up early?"

The bot is smart too.

But that chatbot is in a way that we helped to increase our enrollment with a number of other tools.

We added recruiters, we had used our alumni, and I have to give a shout-out out there to any of our alumni watching this 'cause they were so helpful in helping us build a recruitment strategy that has now helped us go into the fourth year of high freshman enrollment.

And we're gonna rebuild those numbers after Labor Day because that's after census, and we'll know what that is, two years ago, 5%, last year was a 13% increase in freshman enrollment.

And this year we're expecting that number to be higher.

TETIANA: What is it that you're hearing from the students about, you know, the top things that really attracted them to this university?

DR. ANDERSON: Good question, we, we, we collect the data on that all the time.

First, you have agriculture, okay, so we go back to the land and we go back to what's happening with students coming in learning agribusiness and where they're gonna go.

Uh, from undergraduate standpoint biology, because many of them want to go on to become medical doctors, and we train a number of students to go on to pre-med, to medicine from here, pre-pharmacy, pre-dent, pre any health that you can think of other top majors is criminal justice.

Now I think that's because they all wanna be CSI investigators... (laughter).

And we don't know how that's gonna turn out, but many of them go on to work in the political, uh, area.

And so we have a number of students that have gone through our criminal justice, uh, program that are now working in Annapolis with congressmen and with our senators.

Okay.

Other top majors, I said biology, agriculture, um, obviously criminal justice, so sports medicine has become a top for us.

And we just started that program not too many years ago.

And I'm trying, and digital media, I would, I would imagine that's your area of expertise.

TETIANA: Yes, that's, that's interesting.

DR. ANDERSON: That we started that two years ago and it is now one of our top majors and growing.

I cannot leave out the fact that we have aviation sciences, and our aviation science program is the only four-year bachelor's program in the state of Maryland where students can come here to learn how to fly the planes.

And now we have a new program there, our aviation technician program where they can learn how to fix the plane.

So imagine that we can teach a student from fixing the plane all the way to flying the plane.

So all of that here at UMES and those are popular majors for us.

TETIANA: So you have so many different focus areas that students can concentrate in, um, you had mentioned entrepreneurship.

How does that tie all of this together and why is it so important to teach students who are coming to this HBCU, um, about creating, about owning, about growing your own business?

DR. ANDERSON: Everything today, I think from a student standpoint is about being a business person.

You know, after you got Beyonce, you got Jay-Z whoever they're listening to, it's about entrepreneurship.

So think about it, our students who fly planes, they may one day want to own their business for that.

But I'll come down to a more tangible level.

The vet program, those individuals who will come out of that program, they'll be able to take business courses if they like and know how to create their own business when they leave here.

Our students who are in, uh, the agriculture area, looking at fashion merchandising, that's one of the majors where our students come out and they're already knowing how to really set up, you know, uh, whether it's um, makeup, whether it's hair, whether it's nails, whether it's dress.

They learn how to form, form their own business from that.

So I think entrepreneurship is critical to underlining every profession that we have for those students who have that interest.

TETIANA: Um, I, I wanna ask you a little bit about your education, 'cause you did go to predominantly White institutions.

DR. ANDERSON: I did.

TETIANA: Purdue specifically, but you have come to lead an, an HBCU, why was that something that you wanted to make this switch into?

What is it about the HBCU experience that is so valuable, not only for students of color but for all students who come here because there's more than just students of color that are... DR. ANDERSON: Yes.

TETIANA: That are a part of your community.

DR. ANDERSON: It is, we have a very diverse population.

Yes, I grew up in Gary, Indiana and that was an experience in and of itself.

I'm a first gen, and so I didn't have anyone in the family that had gone to an HBCU, and coming out of state, that's what they looked at.

So what it meant for me was everything that I learned going to those PWIs and working in PWIs, I said, when I found... made the decision, I wanted to become a university president.

I wanna go where I can give back to a lot of students who look like me, who look like us, who make, who I can make a difference.

And so coming to an HBCU was a, a proud moment for me because it was like, almost like coming home, and my students, I wanted to be at a place where I get to know all of them.

TETIANA: That makes you emotional to talk about that, why?

DR. ANDERSON: I think it makes me emotional because you want every student who comes in, we wanna make a difference in their lives.

And that's what we are here to do, transform them.

BEMO: Thank you, Dr. Anderson, for your passion about the transformation of students.

Let's see the outcome of that passion with a special conversation between Dr. Allison and star student in the Center for Entrepreneurism and Innovation.

We'll be right back with more conversation between Dr. Anderson and Tetiana Anderson.

Welcome to "HBCU Week," again, I am your cultural correspondent, Bryant "Bemo" Brown, and I'm here with my friends, Cayla and Dr. Allison, how are we?

BOTH: Oh, good.

BEMO: Can, uh, Dr. Allison, can you tell us where we are right now?

DR. ALLISON: We are in the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, our mission is to help students, faculty, staff, alumni, in the community... BEMO: Mm-Hmm.

DR. ALLISON: Start and grow their businesses.

BEMO: And Dr. Allison, what's your role in the, in the center?

DR. ALLISON: I'm the endowed chair of entrepreneurship and then program innovation.

BEMO: Okay, alright, and Cayla, tell us about your role here at the Center.

CAYLA: Um, I was a participant in the incubator that was held here at the Center and I luckily was able to win first place with the help of all the resources that the center had to offer.

BEMO: Really?

CAYLA: Yes.

BEMO: Do you wanna tell us something about your entrepreneurial pursuits?

CAYLA: So my business is something that's dealing with mental health and self-care, what I'm ultimately looking to do is to incorporate collaboration, um, authenticity, facts, and statistics, so ultimately change the way the beauty world is looking.

BEMO: Are you like a entrepreneur major, is that the thing?

CAYLA: No.

BEMO: So what's your, okay, what's your major?

CAYLA: I'm actually a sociology and social work major.

So that just shows you how well this program actually operates, I've been able to not only handle that and excel, but also step into something else that will open up my opportunities just that much.

BEMO: So I need your help, Doc.

DR. ALLISON: Yes.

BEMO: How does Cayla get to be a major somewhere else, but also do major work in the Center of Entrepreneurism?

DR. ALLISON: Well, we help all majors across campus, most of the entrepreneurs that come to us, they are not gonna be majoring in entrepreneurship because what's your expertise?

What's your product, where's that coming from?

So instead we can get somebody from engineering who is making a part for a new machine that might make it better.

We had somebody that was looking at making prosthetics, uh, by 3D printing, which would've been lighter and stronger and quicker to get a prosthetic for someone who may have lost a limb.

We have people that come from every major you can imagine, and they have products they want to create.

BEMO: I love it here.

I think I think y'all gonna have to leave me here.

Thank you, Dr. Allison, thank you, Cayla.

BOTH: Thank you.

BEMO: We'll be back with more "HBCU Week."

It's Friday y'all and "HBCU Week" continues with more dynamic programming, starting at 7:00 PM learn about groundbreaking new programs at Maryland's historically Black colleges and universities with the State Circle special, "Where Do We Go From Here?"

DR. REID: I immediately thought my grandfather, who, who actually, uh, was a World War II Staff Sergeant and he entered on that beach.

Getting there you can kind of get a sense of, you know, of everything that we had discussed, you know, a beautiful beach, that was a place of death.

STUDENT: A mathematician is somebody who solves math equations.

MAN: I went to Morehouse College because I had never seen a Black professor with a PhD in mathematics.

MAN: A Lot of people in this world are gonna tell you that you can't and I'm a person that looks like you and I'm gonna tell you that you can.

MONICA: My name is Monica Jackson, I'm a mathematician.

MEL: Mel Curry and I'm a mathematician.

TALITHA: Dr. Talitha Washington, and I am a mathematician.

"Journeys of Black Mathematicians."

NARRATOR: Born into the Jim Crow era of working-class Baltimore, Calvin Tyler Jr. overcame poverty and segregation to become a successful businessman and benefactor to Maryland's largest HBCU.

TYLER: I'm here to tell the Tyler Scholars that no investment means more to us than our investment in you.

NARRATOR: Follow his incredible journey on "The Calvin Tyler Story."

TETIANA: Welcome back.

We are continuing the conversation with the President of University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Dr. Heidi Anderson.

The legacy of HBCUs is not only important to students and people of color but also to everybody else.

And I know you have students who are going here who are not people of color, but what does it do for them?

What have you heard them say, uh, when it comes to what they get out of an HBCU like this one?

DR. ANDERSON: I think they, I think all of our students get a similar thing, they get a feeling of being part of a family.

They get a feeling of having people who take care of them.

They get a feeling of, um, people who nurture them and people who take their best interests to heart and help them transform.

And so I think it doesn't matter whether you're a student of color or a student, uh, uh, another student of from a who are, who's a diverse population or a student who's, uh, a White student.

You come to an HBCU and I think you have that kind of, that kind of feeling of belonging, that there are people here who care about me.

TETIANA: There's such a sense of community on campus, but there's also a community outside of campus.

How does what you do here, um, create economic development and, and, and, and impact the lives of people who, who are outside?

DR. ANDERSON: Yeah.

In many ways, I think one of, when you're in small rural towns like we happen to be here, Princess Anne, our extension officers in our, in our team of faculty, and we have a talented team of faculty and staff here who are into the communities, they help extend the economic nature of those particular areas.

And so we increase the number of the wealth in, in, in the community here.

Think about it from the standpoint of, of services, of food, of what we give back.

We also are working to build our town of Princess Anne.

So one of the things that, one of my hopes and dreams is that we help revitalize our town.

We have that close town-and-gown relationship and we help put businesses down in our town.

And so one of the things, we mentioned entrepreneurship earlier, we have now gotten funding from the federal government over $2.2 million to really begin to build the town up with an entrepreneurial center where people can come in and learn new businesses and startups and go from the products being developed and, and just in someone's mind and innovated to actually being final product.

TETIANA: Dr. Anderson, thank you so much for this conversation.

DR. ANDERSON: Thank you also for being on our beautiful campus.

TETIANA: And thanks to our viewers as well for watching "HBCU Week," join us again next time.

BEMO: We wanna thank Dr. Heidi Anderson, president of University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Tetiana Anderson for such a riveting conversation.

It's Saturday and you know what that means, it's time for sports.

First football, we look at the unique comradery and competition in HBCU sports and their impact on African American communities in "HBCU Week: Tradition and Competition."

After that, we have "HBCU Week: Beyond the Field," followed by "Inside the CIAA: Impact" where we discovered the impact that the nation's largest and oldest HBCU postseason basketball tournament.

At 9:30, we head to the nation's capital for "The Golden Year: Howard Women's Basketball."

We end our night with "The Dream Whisperer."

You do not wanna miss Saturday night on Maryland Public Television.

Welcome back to "HBCU Week," I'm here with my friends Mariana and Brooke, what's up y'all?

BOTH: What's up everybody?

BEMO: We're standing with the 2024 MEAC Conference Bowling Champions, correct?

BOTH: Absolutely.

Okay, alright, what about the HBCU experience do you enjoy the most?

BROOKE: Being able to learn about the culture and just be invited.

Like it's just very home, it feels like home, I'm, that's, that's it, like.

What about your Mariana, how do you, what do you enjoy about the HBCU experience?

MARIANA: I think the culture is really good, like I was a little scared before I came here because of course not my first language or whatever, but I think the people is really good, really open to like everybody.

BEMO: Yeah.

MARIANA: Uh, they try to help every time.

BEMO: I think when people think of sports, they think of like basketball.

BOTH: Mm-hmm.

BEMO: Football.

BOTH: Mm-hmm.

BEMO: Lacrosse.

BOTH: Mm-hmm.

BEMO: Maybe even like chess, I don't know.

But I think, I think one of the last things they think about is bowling.

BROOKE: Absolutely.

So what makes your story different than the rest?

BROOKE: I think we really bonded as a team and worked really hard together as a team and used each other to uplift like us, and it wasn't like there was no competition amongst each other.

We were all competing to be a better team and that's how we won.

♪ ♪ BEMO: I'm right back here, I'm Bemo, I'm here with my friend, what's up?

FATIMAH: Hello, what's going on?

BEMO: If you don't mind, just introduce yourself to me and maybe some of these plants in the area.

FATIMAH: My name is Fatimah Belgrave, I am a junior here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and I major in general agriculture.

I chose UMES because my family is lower income and UMES had the perfect opportunities for me to come here.

I was offered a land grant scholarship, which allowed me to pursue a degree in agriculture and I was also able to be a Next Gen Scholar, um, recipient, which is a scholarship funded by the USDA, which allows me to do things like assist in research and... BEMO: Oh, word.

FATIMAH: Allows me to... yeah, propagate and deal with like these grape, um, cuttings here, for example, with our, uh, grape vines here, I've assisted with, uh, plant propagation and I've assisted in, uh, fungi cultures to multiply all of these plants to have as many as we do, we cut around here and then we replant them in a separate pot with a rooting hormone called Auxin.

And that allows us to multiply this to have as much as you see here.

BEMO: I'm so interested that you chose agriculture in the same era that AI is blowing up, can you tell me about your choice?

FATIMAH: Well, as a society, we're always gonna need food and that's a job that's never going to be completely replaced by AI because while we work alongside with AI technology, it still need the human aspect to, you know, coordinate everything that's going on to run these machines and to work alongside as a team.

BEMO: Now let's hear from Dr. Anderson to talk about the transition from an R2 to an R1 institution.

DR. ANDERSON: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore became a R2 institution in 2018.

So let me tell you what that means, the Carnegie Organization has a classification scheme of all institutions in the country and they labeled them as Research 1, Research 2, or Research 3.

And so we became what's known as a R2, a Research 2 institution in 2018, and the transition means if you have the capacity from the standpoint, the number of faculty, the number of students who are doing research, the number of publications, the number of people you graduate, you can go through the ranks and rise up to the R1 status, and there's a number of other criteria.

I'm proud of our campus because it basically means we have a talented group of faculty, of staff who work with our students to help move them along on the research realm.

So let me give you an example.

We do quality research in the areas of agriculture science, things like looking at uh, poultry, looking at seafood, how we can do, make food crops a lot better, how we can have farmers grow things a lot more efficiently, grow to not only be efficient, but to be effective in feeding large numbers of people out there.

We look at healthcare disparities and we do research there.

So we have a student who's working on a project with a faculty member looking at hair products, especially those hair products that are in, um, African American women who have, who has caused uterine cancer.

And is that a problem?

But the whole point that I'm trying to get across is, as an R2 institution, we focus on making sure that our students work side by side with top-notch researchers to solve those problems that are impacting the Eastern Shore, more importantly, impacting Maryland and the world.

The transition from R2 to R1, first of all, I like to always say it's being driven by our faculty.

Many places you may have the leader come in and say, we wanna make sure we do this.

That's not what I did here.

Our faculty came to me and they said, we have the infrastructure in place, we have the people in place and we have the interest to go from becoming an R2 to an R1.

And that means bringing in more research dollars, solving those big research problems and those big issues out there, and making sure we have the number of students in the classroom to move the needle on where we happen to be as a research institution.

This is a statue that was done by Black, uh, sculptors and it's called the "Family."

TETIANA: Mm-Hmm.

DR. ANDERSON: And it talks about it, it's plants and it's everything you can think of with pharmacy, all interwoven.

Over here is a, uh, one of the plants that students learn about.

TETIANA: Oh wow.

DR. ANDERSON: So medicinal plants are through are worked throughout the entire sculpture.

MAN: PR, we can uncover him.

DR. ANDERSON: Let's, let's uncover a pallet.

MAN: Yes.

TETIANA: Dr. Bemo.

BEMO: Doctor, he bleeds?

DR. ANDERSON: He bleeds, he breathes.

MAN: Yep.

DR. ANDERSON: He screams.

MAN: Yep.

DR. ANDERSON: Yes, and students can actually test and work on that.

MAN: Yes ma'am.

DR. ANDERSON: To get all those experiences before they actually go into the real setting.

MAN: Well, she has a baby in there.

Um, and then this is one of the simulated live births.

DR. ANDERSON: You see that, now look at, this is, so students can actually experience a mom giving a, having a baby and she can do twins as well.

So multiple births and that is really, really incredible, uh also so needed to make sure they know students know what to do before they leave here working real practice.

BEMO: In case you missed anything throughout the week, Sunday's got a full day of programming just to get you right.

We start at noon with the State Circle special, "Where Do We Go From Here?"

Followed by the programs "Shaw Rising," "Artworks: The Imani Grace Special" and "Artworks: The Art of Strings."

At 3:00 PM "Dr. Eddie Henderson: Uncommon Genius," followed by "The Historic HBCU Photograph" and "The Calvin Tyler Story."

We end "HBCU Week" with the embodiment of HBCU excellence, "Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming A Space."

I hope you love "HBCU Week" as much as I did, we'll see you next year.

Man, what a beautiful day here at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

I cannot thank the people over here enough for having us, it has been a wonderful experience, I really don't know what else you could want from an HBCU, we have the forefront of education, of technology, of innovation.

I'm understanding the "hawk pride" now, right.

So thank y'all for joining us, thank y'all for coming to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where we soar above and beyond.

Thank y'all from "HBCU Week," we'll see you next time.

David, I wanna ask you a couple questions if that's okay.

DAVID: Okay, that's okay, that's good.

BEMO: Where are you from?

DAVID: I'm from Jamaica.

BEMO: You're from Jamaica?

DAVID: Yeah, I'm from Jamaica.

BEMO: Like, Jamaica, Jamaica.

DAVID: Jamaica, Jamaica.

BEMO: You came here from Jamaica.

DAVID: Straight outta Jamaica.

BEMO: You didn't go to a high school in Florida and then come here, you came from... DAVID: Actually straight outta the Calabar High School in Jamaica.

BEMO: That's awesome.

Like what's your North Star on HBCU culture?

VICTORIA: I guess ours would be TikTok, honestly.

Um, there's a lot of different apps like, um, Zemi, that's how I connected with a bunch of different people on... BEMO: Who?

VICTORIA: Zemi.

BEMO: Don't mind my age, keep going.

VICTORIA: Okay, you're fine.

Um, that's how I connected with a bunch of people before I even got to UMES.

That's like pretty much every single college campus has this app, it's like a pre-admitted be like, "Hey, like how is this campus?"

Da, da, da, da, da.

You just ask a bunch of different little questions and connect, like.

BEMO: Interesting.

VICTORIA: It's really fun.

DR. ANDERSON: Yes.

The only HBCU with a certified PGA golf management program, yes.

TETIANA: I like it.

DR. ANDERSON: Yes.

TETIANA: We should have done like a golf interview.

DR. ANDERSON: Look what she should have done... TETIANA: That's what we're talking about.

DR. ANDERSON: She should have it in my office so you can see my golf trophy, see?

Oh so you really probably don't want this trophy, I was just kidding, I did win that day.

OLUWANIFEMI: I was raised in Greenbelt, Atlanta.

BEMO: Okay.

OLUWANIFEMI: Yes.

CALEB: I'm from Washington, DC.

BEMO: From DC?

CALEB: Yes.

BEMO: Okay, so y'all both from my neck of the woods.

Alright, now I drove up here.

BOTH: Okay.

BEMO: I drove and I drove and I kept driving.

OLUWANIFEMI: Okay.

BEMO: I crossed the bridge.

OLUWANIFEMI: It's a straight shot, yeah.

BEMO: And I kept driving and I know where y'all from.

OLUWANIFEMI: Uh-huh.

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