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Tuskegee University receives Higher Carnegie Classification Status
Source: Tuskegee University
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Tuskegee University-Cornel West to speak at Tuskegee University MLK celebration
Source: Tuskegee University
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Tuskegee University -PRESIDENT JOHNSON AUBURN UNIVERSITY MLK SPEAKER
Source: Tuskegee University
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Tuskegee University Alumni family makes historic living-learning facility gift to Tuskegee
Source: Tuskegee University
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Tuskegee University
Source: Tuskegee University Tuskegee University Receives its 3rd $500,000 or more Foundation Grant/Gift in 2015 with a $600,000 Lilly Endowment Grant.
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1. “A Young Man Apart, A World Apart” News & Observer AUGUST 31, 1995 (20 YEARS AGO TODAY)
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Tuskegee University: Ranked #2 HBCU AVERAGE SALARIES FOR GRADUATES EDSMART
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Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awards Tuskegee University One-Half Million Dollar Gift
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TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY: (LAST WASHINGTON WORD) JUNE 15, 2015-ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY 7TH PRESIDENT
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“Some people may say that it was Tuskegee’s good luck that brought to us this gift of fifty thousand dollars. No, it was not luck. It was hard work. Nothing ever comes to me, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work. When Mr. Huntington gave me the first two dollars, I did not blame him for not giving me more, but made up my mind that I was going to convince him by tangible results that we were worthy of large gifts. For a dozen years I made a strong effort to convince Mr. Huntington of the value of our work. I noted that just in proportion as the usefulness of the school grew, his donations increased.” -Booker T. Washington, My Larger Education (1911)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Nothing is more disturbing to hear about individual or organizational success-especially if you have contributed to such success-than that such success should be attributed to “luck” and not “hard work”. Hard work involves deliberate and persistent effort directed towards a designated end that is often easy to gloss over when witnessing the outcome and not the work preceding it. And such was Mr. Washington’s work in the advancement and development efforts of Tuskegee Institute (University). Here was a man who did not scoff at any amount received into the coffers of Tuskegee whether great or small. Without regard to the amount, he “made up [his] mind” to be resolute about his pursuit for even larger ones with his chief aid being “tangible results.” Or, as he wrote elsewhere, “Let[ting] Examples Answer.” For when an organization’s “examples answer,” it becomes easier to proceed from strength to strength because past successes are often the surest indicators of future successes.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In the lore of Tuskegee Institute’s illustrious history, there are scores of accounts, stories, and anecdotes about the meticulous management of its founding Principal and President Booker T. Washington. (This was all in addition to his visioning and planning at a macro level.) From his daily rounds around campus on his horse to his quick admonition of a student who was not properly attired, Mr. Washington’s attention to all things Tuskegee is often unknown to persons beyond the Tuskegee Institute (University) family. And this piece of correspondence directed to his own older brother speaks volumes about how his management was without “respect of persons.” Mr. John Henry Washington played a pivotal role in the founding and development of Tuskegee Institute (University). Moreover, he played an important role in the life of his little brother Booker. For it was he who assisted younger Booker’s efforts to receive a formal education. All the same, Booker played no favorites in communicating with his brother-his older brother-concerning those matters that lie within his charge. And in order to provide such correction, Mr. Washington must have went out from his office and home to observe and inspect those things within his brother’s charge. Imagine this, in addition to all of his activities, the founding Principal and President made time to visit and inspect both the barn and underneath the barn-even his own brother’s barn. Such a tenacious commitment to consistency surely must have resonated with all other employees within Tuskegee Institute. For surely if the Tuskegee Institute (University) President found the time to inspect, correct and communicate with his own older brother about his area, he would surely make the time to inspect, correct and communicate with anyone else about their areas.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“Among the most trying class of people with whom I come in contact are the persons who have been educated in books to the extent that they are able, upon every occasion, to quote a phrase or a sentiment from Shakespeare, Milton, Cicero, or some other great writer. Every time any problem arises they are on the spot with a phrase or a quotation. No problem is so difficult that they are not able, with a definition or abstraction of some kind, to solve it. I like phrases, and I frequently find them useful and convenient in conversation, but I have not found in them a solution for many of the actual problems of life.”– Booker T. Washington, My Larger Education (1911)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
We often deceive ourselves by assuming that a word fitly spoken, an opinion boldly proffered, an argument well-written or a critique loosely given is tantamount to leadership–particularly with respect to solving “the actual problems of life.” And this is the idea that Booker T. Washington explained in his observations of men and women who offer words without any accompanying works. Thomas Edison suggested that “A vision without execution is a hallucination.” To be clear, “vision”-the single greatest 6-letter word- requires words for articulating, reasoning, inspiring and motivating. Yet, this is only one half of the deal in leadership. The other half is transforming those words into works. Such works, unlike words, are never philosophical or theoretical “abstraction[s]”. These works are “solution[s] for many of the actual problems” that visionary words propose to solve. Works are the evidentiary and documentable deeds done that substantiate the words of visionary leadership. Works are what can be touched, pointed to and-most importantly-verified, substantiated and authenticated precisely like the presence of Tuskegee (Institute) University that still stands a full century since Mr. Washington’s death (1915-2015). Mr. Washington’s late 19th and early 20th century demonstration of visionary leadership is the complete expression of a leader’s love for “words” that he found “useful and convenient in conversation,” as well as his “work” achieved and completed at Tuskegee. And witnessing such visionary leadership is akin to persons upon a ship viewing an iceberg in the middle of a frigid ocean. The “words” are what sit atop the iceberg’s tip until the “works” of the impressive mass that lies beneath comes slowly into view.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
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“I remember one young man in particular who graduated from Yale University and afterward took a post-graduate course at Harvard, and who began his career by delivering a series of lectures on “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington.” It was not long, however, before he found that he could not live continuously on my mistakes. Then he discovered that in all his long schooling he had not fitted himself to perform any kind of useful and productive labour. After he had failed in several other directions he appealed to me, and I tried to find something for him to do. It is pretty hard, however, to help a young man who has started wrong.” -Booker T. Washington, (1911) My Larger Education
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. offers the following concerning men and women whose actions are similar to the young man described in Booker T. Washington’s aforementioned passage: “Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way – and the fools know it.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University provides several important lessons about both the young man-as well as all men and women of his ilk-who seek to establish their name and reputation on the basis of disparaging the name and reputation of others-particularly those whose accomplishments they will only be brought in close proximity to only upon the basis of “controversy.” First, Mr. Washington never ever mentions this young man’s name. While this unidentified young man knew full well that persons might give him a hearing-not upon the basis of his own person and accomplishments, but based upon the person and accomplishments of his topic, “The Mistakes of Booker T. Washington,”-identifying or responding to this young man provided not a single, solitary benefit to Mr. Washington and Tuskegee. Second, Mr. Washington understood that the young man’s premises were flawed from the onset, and it is the clearest telltale example of Mr. Washington’s oft-repeated phrase, “Let examples answer.” To be sure, the actions of no man or woman are all “good” or all “bad.” (This is naïve, simplistic and child-like thinking.) Yet, in the face of the clear, overwhelming and documentable evidence that testify to the good that Mr. Washington had done locally, regionally and nationally, this young man titled his lecture series according to what he perceived were the mistakes of Mr. Washington. Here again, what one consistently reads and hears, one will consistently become. And this young man ought to have taken heed to how and to what he was hearing for it ultimately led to what he had become. (For this young man’s attempt to categorize and confine a man of Booker T.Washington’s eminence and accomplishments to a series of perceived mistakes that his limited training, limited knowledge and limited life experience identified did nothing but demonstrate his failure to understand the significance of the (2) greatest 9-letter words and the single, most dangerous 9-letter word: (1) “Integrity,” (2) “Knowledge,” and (3) “Ignorance.”) Finally, we should consider Mr. Washington’s demonstration of another one of his famous aphorisms: “I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.” The very same young man who sought to disparage and defame Mr. Washington later sought him for assistance, and Mr. Washington “tried to find something for him to do.” (This dynamic needs no additional commentary.) Yet what is deserving of additional commentary is that this young man might have spent his time and work writing, lecturing and building his own legacy and life worth reading as opposed to seeking to denigrate another’s whose legacy and life of building Tuskegee (Institute) University spanned 34 years (1881-1915) and remains and is read to this very day.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“I have often said to you that one of the best things that education can do for an individual is to teach that individual to get hold of what he wants, rather than to teach him how to commit to memory a number of facts in history or a number of names in geography. I wish you to feel that we can give you here orderliness of mind-I mean a trained mind-that will enable you to find dates in history or to put your finger on names in geography when you want them. I wish to give you an education that will enable you to construct rules in grammar and arithmetic for your-selves. That is the highest kind of training. But, after all, this kind of thing is not the end of education. What, then, do we mean by education? I would say that education is meant to give us an idea of truth. Whatever we get out of text books, whatever we get out of industry, whatever we get here and there from any sources, if we do not get the idea of truth at the end, we do not get education. I do not care how much you get out of history, or geography, or algebra, or literature, I do not care how much you have got out of all your text books:-unless you have got truth, you have failed in your purpose to be educated. Unless you get the idea of truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything, your education is a failure.”– Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Of the many truths the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University proffered in his many speeches, writings and correspondence, the following is perhaps the single most profound and difficult one to grasp: “Unless you get the idea of truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything, your education is a failure.” Now it may appear to the naysayer that Mr. Washington makes a rather prideful or arrogant assertion but C.S. Lewis’s idea that “perfect humility dispenses with modesty” rejects such an accusation. (“Humility” is the greatest 8-letter word and “Fearless” is the second greatest 8-letter word in succession with good reason.) To be clear, there is no man or woman who will have not had error or failure at some point in their vocational path or journey. Yet, Mr. Washington’s conception of “education” encompasses those who have erred and failed because a “truth so pure that you cannot be false in anything” permits a single man or woman to ascertain valuable and truthful lessons whether through triumph or tragedy. For this man or woman-the truly educated man or woman-never experiences “falsity [or failure] in anything” because he or she lives, learns and then leads others to wrest the valuable water of “knowledge”-the second greatest 9-letter word-from any dampening circumstance. Moreover, these men and women proceed undauntedly, unflinchingly and unwaveringly day-to-day, month-to-month and year-to-year to continuous and ongoing “success”-one of the greatest 7-letter words-without ever experiencing real “falsity” or “failure” in the truest sense of the words. For never can a man or woman who possesses and applies the sort of education Mr. Washington established at Tuskegee University can ever rightly be called “false” or a “failure” because a truly educated man or woman ultimately views success and failure rightly according to the greatest 8-letter words: “Humility” and “Fearless,” which again are the greatest 8-letter words in succession.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Esteemed author and educator, Parker Palmer, writes the following regarding finding one’s purpose and passion in connection with one’s work: “It is not easy work rejoining soul and role.” And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington thoroughly outlines in this letter to Mr. Gilchrist Stewart the kind of employee he sought to assist him in his work at Tuskegee. Expounding upon his conception of “heart (calling), head (competence) and hands (capable),” Mr. Washington wanted someone to “take hold in a whole souled way,” and “whose soul is deeply in love with his work.”
While Mr. Washington’s passage needs no additional commentary, and one might argue that he offers a 19th century notion of work, we are able to glean two important lessons for the 21st century from his remarks to Mr. Stewart. First, he wanted someone “who gives [work] his thought night and day.” Now, there are a great many employees whose work ends as soon as the bell rings, yet there are some who give constant thought and deliberation to how their work might be improved and made better. To be sure, work-life balance dictates prudence in these matters. Notwithstanding, the student, scholar, professor, staff member and administrator who is constantly turning about in their head how to make things better will likely become the person who surpasses those whose work is done at the close of the class period or the business day. (For this man or woman is working while others are talking or sleeping, and when they become successful, it is only a surprise to those who do not know the supreme value of works as opposed to words.) Second, Mr. Washington wanted someone “who looks so closely after every detail of his work…whom orders will not have to be continually repeated…[and] one who is continually planning for the improvement and perfection of his work.” Herein lies the (3) chief descriptors of any successful man or woman at their craft: 1. They look closely after the details. Contrary to popular opinion, “it does take all of that” to become a man or woman whose work transcends any boundary. Attention to the most minute of details is a characteristic of excellence that is oft-times avoided because it is perceived as additional work 2. They do not need to be told repeatedly what to do. If a supervisor must spend his or her time repeatedly issuing the same instructions and expectations to those within their charge, then they might rightly do the work themselves. On the other hand, if a supervisor can issue a general set of expectations and instructions and never return to the person except when absolutely necessary it enables the supervisor to attend to their own duties and not the duties of others. 3. They are continually planning for improvement and perfection in their work. Note, one will never arrive at perfection which is precisely why an institution and its employees must be in a constant state of “continuous improvement.” It is a poor employee or organization that rests upon past successes or achievement. The best employees and organizations work constantly to achieve and do MORE and MORE. Success-true success-begets more success and, most importantly, continued success. (Success is the 3rd greatest 7-letter word after “purpose” and “passion.”) Every successful man or woman wants to work in a culture of success. And such success is both the tradition and trajectory of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
Personal and Private
Dear Sir: I am not active in politics and do not expect to be, and have no claim upon your time or attention. I simply write to assure you that I am doing in a rather quiet way whatever I can in connection with our mutual friend, Mr. Clarkson, to bring about your nomination for the presidency at St. Louis Convention […]. “April 10, 1896,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Booker T. Washington possessed many detractors who railed against the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University for not being “active in politics.” In spite of this, we repeatedly find in his letters and correspondence that he was simply not “active” in the precise manner at the precise time that persons wanted him to be. Such was the case in his communication to William Boyd Allison. Although Mr. Washington was not loud, boisterous nor public in communicating the whole of his ideas and activities, he moved “in a rather quiet way” as demonstrated in this letter marked “personal and private.” Unlike those without such responsibilities, many leaders of large and vast organizations like Booker T. Washington are not at liberty to publicly communicate all of their opinions or activities directed towards particular ends. Whether in the 19th century where leaders communicated through pen and paper or in the 21st century where men and women communicate via email or social media, you will rarely find the most effective leaders revealing the whole of their minds and the whole of their undertakings upon a matter. (The weightier their position, the weightier their word.) It is a small and insignificant thing for a person who possesses no public reputation or great authority to offer opinion on highly charged political matters. Yet for a man in Booker T. Washington’s position, every move and word was scrutinized because of the eminence of his role and institution. For some 34 years, he was not simply Booker Washington; He was Booker Washington, principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University. As such, prudence dictated that he move “in a rather quiet way” on a great majority of matters for a great majority of his 34 years at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“I hope that each of you as you go out for the summer, whether you go out with the view of returning here to finish your course of study, or whether you go out as graduates of the institution, I want each of you to remember that you are going to go backward or you are going to go forward. It will be impossible for you to stand still. You will either go upward or you will go downward, and as you go upward, you will take others up with you, or as you go downward, you will take others with you.” “Sunday Evening Talk,” “May 13, 1900,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
In life, leadership and a host of other endeavors, one can hardly expect to move “forward” or “upward” while “stand[ing] still”. As the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University eloquently articulates in one of his “Sunday Evening Talks” with students, “you are going to go backward or you are going to go forward.” To be sure, Mr. Washington’s idea of moving “forward,” “backward,” “upwards,” or “downwards” is not an absolute formula. There are a great many occasions where perceived “backward” movements propel individuals and organizations “forward,” and perceived “upward” movements move individuals and organizations “downward.” Notwithstanding, the idea contained in Mr. Washington’s aforementioned formulation speaks most precisely to “activity” or “inactivity,” which is otherwise known as, “stand[ing] still”. History and contemporary society are replete with examples of men, women and organizations whose constant activity have led to a single monumental success after many repeated failures. Yet, what is constant in both the successes and failures is “activity.” Mr. Washington has also described it as, “going”. And while it is true that busyness is not the same as effectiveness, it is equally true that the man, woman or organization that is busy “going” is more likely to become successful as opposed to those who are “standing still.”
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“Dear Mr. Benner: Please tell Booker that I am to be here for a week, and that I should like to hear from him. He has a tendency, I have noticed, to stoop over when he sits, and to stand not at all erect when he walks. I hope you will do all that you can to correct this habit. Very truly yours.”– “May 5, 1904,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
The founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University was not only an affectionate father who wanted to hear from his sons, he was also a father that provided instruction to them as well. His namesake attended the Wellesley School for Boys in Wellesley, MA, and Mr. Edward Augustine Benner was principal of the school during young Booker’s tenure. Similar to his stewardship over the affairs of Mother Tuskegee, he equally considered important the stewardship over his children as a father. A consummate educator, his letters, speeches and writings demonstrate that he used every incident occurring in the walls of the university to provide object lessons to his students for their betterment. Similarly, he used the opportunity to inquire of his son’s well -being while simultaneously requesting that the principal make note of his recommendations concerning his son’s posture. Like a good teacher, Mr. Washington well understood that paternal love is not constrained to a demonstration of empathy and concern, it also involves correction. For love, empathy and concern properly understood involves both.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“[To Charles Winter Wood] Fear Booker still unwell. Go Wellesley at once and have full consultation with Mr. Brenner. If you and he think wise and necessary have good physician give Booker thorough examination and do whatever is best for him at any reasonable expense. Have all your dealings with Mr. Benner and do nothing he does not approve. Find out how Booker getting on in every way. Telegraph answer my expense after you have been to Wellesley.”– “May 21, 1904,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
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Tuskegee University: Wes Moore chosen as Tuskegee University Common Reading Experience author
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
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“I hope, for instance, that a large proportion of you-in fact all of you-will make it a practice to give something yearly to this institution. If you cannot give but twenty-five cents, fifty cents, or a dollar a year, I hope you will put it down as a thing that you will not forget, to give something to this institution every year. We want to show to our friends who have done so much for us, who have supported this school so generously, how much interest we take in the institution that has given us so nearly all that we possess. I hope that every senior, in particular, will keep this in mind. I am glad to say that we have many graduates who send us such sums, even if small, and one graduate who for the last eight or ten years has sent us ten dollars annually.”-“Sunday Evening Talk,” Booker T. Washington Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson When potential donors inquire with an institution concerning its alumni giving participation, the percentage of total alumni giving, not the amount of alumni giving, is the foremost consideration. Even if a single alumnus gives $1M per year, the following questions are immediately begged: What is the giving and interest level of the thousands of remaining alumni that the institution has graduated? Was this a single aberration? Is giving limited to the eminently successful alumni? Or does it extend from small to great-all of whom are recipients of Tuskegee Institute (University) baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate degrees? And interest level goes well beyond public professions of love for one’s alma mater “our nourishing mother,” but the expression of this love in tangible gifts and donations. Mr. Washington, founding principal and president, understood this well when he spoke the following to students who would become future alumni during one of hisSunday evening talks: “We want to show to our friends…how much interest we take in the institution that has given us so nearly all that we possess.” Although the sons and daughters of Booker and Mother Tuskegee are the institution’s most precious value claim to the world-its most precious commodity-the gifts of those interested, including alumni, in the advancement of the institution are what established-and continues to establish-Tuskegee Institute (University’s) reputation as one of the finest campuses and strongest academic destinations in the nation and the world. Friend-raising and fundraising begins at home. And if those who are most intimately familiar with and profess support or love for the institution will not give to it, why would a stranger who is not familiar with and professes no support or love for the institution give to it? Thus consistent giving whether small or great, regularly (monthly or annually), from 100% of graduated students or as Mr. Washington pronounced, “all of you,” is the clearest indicator of alumni strength. Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
7th President, Tuskegee University
#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
Personal
“Dear sir: In further answer to your very kind letter of a few days ago making inquiry as to the work of our graduates and ex-students, I would say that one of our officers is employed almost continuously in visiting and inspecting the work being done by the men and women that we turn out, and he makes periodical reports to me of what he finds, and I take the liberty of enclosing to you a copy of the last report which he sent in. An analysis of this report will show that 57 cases are covered. Four are engaged wholly in teaching, 27 work wholly at their trades, 26 teach in connection with working at their trades. Yours truly,”-Booker T. Washington, “July 9, 1903”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Nothing is more exhilarating-aside from reporting and conveying high rates of alumni giving percentages-for a president of a university to take delight in reporting about his or her alumni than reporting upon their individual successes in their fields of study. Make no mistake, the pride and strength of any institution is its students and its graduates for these individuals represent the core mission and vision-the tradition and trajectory-of any institution of higher learning. Long before the nomenclature of an “outcomes-oriented organization” became commonplace in American higher education, here you find the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University providing data-informed responses to inquiries with respect to his graduates. Note, there is not a single day in the life of a university president where he or she is not requested to provide documentable, evidence-based and outcomes-based responses regarding the successes of their institution. Though somewhat rudimentary in 1903, Mr. Washington, all the same, provided “facts” not “floating tales” in the form of a “periodical report” that he is able to readily provide to any would-be supporter or detractor concerning his work at Tuskegee (Institute) University. Here again, it is an extension of Mr. Washington’s often quoted maxim: “Let examples answer.” (It is simply unwise in any endeavor to offer words without accompanying and supporting works.) In this respect, Mr. Washington did not merely suggest that the sons and daughters of Mother Tuskegee were the very best and the brightest, he demonstrated it.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“Dear Sir: Yours of May 2nd has been received and is somewhat of a surprise to me. I would say, however, at the outset that it is against my custom to make reply in regard to tales that are floating about in the air. Any man who is at all before the public will have any number of stories put into his ears, and if he permits himself to be influenced by them I find he will impair his usefulness for work, and it has been my rule to neither deny nor affirm such stories […]” -Booker T. Washington, “May 4, 1892”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Of all the considerations persons fail to consider when they approach the President of Tuskegee Institute (University)-or any leader of a highly visible organization-is perhaps the most obvious of all: “[…] in regard to tales that are floating about in the air. Any man [or woman] who is at all before the public will have any number of stories put into his ears […]”. And Mr. Washington’s assertion is one that all leaders and talebearers would do well to take heed to. For talebearers, such an omission does not injure the public figure, but injures the bearer of the “tales” designed to “put into his ears.” Unknown to many, the role of President or CEO grants access to a great many details that most persons are not-nor ever will be-privy to. And those who approach a leader with information that he or she is likely already familiar with will generally find that their information is likely-partial at best or faulty at worst. For if a leader allowed himself or herself to be “influenced” by partial or faulty information, it would “impair his [or her] usefulness for work.” And, in the end, it would be the leader-not the talebearer-who would be standing alone to explain why he or she relied on “floating” tales as opposed to facts.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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2015 Rankings of Best Historically Black Colleges & Universities | College Choice
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TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY NO. 1 2015 Rankings of Best Historically Black Colleges & Universities | College Choice
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“Before going to Tuskegee I had expected to find there a building and all the necessary apparatus ready for me to begin teaching. To my disappointment, I found nothing of the kind. I did find, though, that which no costly building and apparatus can supply, -hundreds of hungry, earnest souls who wanted to secure knowledge.” -Booker T. Washington, “Up From Slavery,” (1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
To be sure, a surplus of resources-material, monetary, human or property (land)-are necessary for the building of a great institution of higher education. Nevertheless, all of these resources would be wasted if there were not students who are “hungry,” “earnest” and desire “knowledge.” It is roundly true that Mr. Washington’s “Tuskegee Machine” was one of the wealthiest institutions in the nation during the late 19th and early 20th century (and beyond), yet it was equally true that the real strength of the institution was its people-namely the many students and subsequent graduates of Tuskegee (Institute) University who have gone forth as the ‘sons and daughters of Booker and Mother Tuskegee’. For this collective body of students-past, present and future-are the living “building” and “apparatus” of Tuskegee University and the spring from which all of its resources have and must continue to flow. And these students not only represent the strongest indicator of its wealth but these students represent where Tuskegee University’s resources will continue to be invested.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“I have found that strict business methods go a long way in the securing the interest of rich people. It has been my constant aim at Tuskegee to carry out, in our financial and other operations, such business methods as would be approved of by any New York banking house.” – Booker T. Washington, _Up From Slavery_(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
One of the surest indicators of how an organization might manage another’s resources-fiscal or otherwise-is to consider how this same organization manages its own, and Mr. Washington’s desire to manage Tuskegee Institute in a manner that “would be approved of by any New York banking house” is quite telling. In both its “financial and other operations,” Mr. Washington wanted to ensure that the practices of Tuskegee Institute (University) were such that it would appeal to the persons who could help fiscally advance and develop the University the fastest-“rich people”. While it is true that Mr. Washington received a great many gifts from persons who were not wealthy-make no mistake-many of the most pivotal and significant gifts came from persons with wealth. For the founding Principal and President of Tuskegee Institute (University) well understood that if he was going to attract the “interest” of persons with means then he would have to follow the very practices that were used in managing–and most importantly–achieving such means.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“[…] I made up my mind definitely on one or two fundamental points. I determined: First, that I should at all times be perfectly frank and honest in dealing with each of the three classes of people that I have mentioned; Second, that I should not depend upon any “short-cuts” or expedients merely for the sake of gaining temporary popularity or advantage, whether for the time being such action brought me popularity or the reverse. With these two points clear before me as my creed, I began going forward.” -Booker T. Washington, “My Larger Education,” (1911)
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
John Lukacs suggests the following about the potential of the past coming to bear upon the future: “I saw the future and it was the past.” And Booker T. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University offers a similar advisement in his little-known work, The Future of the American Negro published in 1899. Now, the mere assembling of the “relics” of any people group’s history alone is not a sole predictor of its future. For it greatly depends upon what is being assembled as one paraphrased African proverb offers: “The hunter will always be the hero until the lion has his own historian.” And Mr. Washington recommends the assembling of those “relics [in particular], which mark the progress of their civilization” and “achievements” placed “in some durable form.” (Here again, what one consistently reads, one will consistently become.) If one consistently reads a narrative or documentable history of a people characterized by its clear and documentable successes as opposed to failures documented for varying purposes, such histories will serve to shape not only the psyche of a single people group but also the psyche of all people groups who have a special relationship or closeness to this same group. Such is the history of Tuskegee (Institute) University, where reading the narratives of the men and women (including students, supporters, community members, faculty, staff and administrators) provide a documentable, inspiring and motivating “tradition” (past) that can translate into a documentable, inspiring and motivating “trajectory” (future).
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“We frequently hear the word ‘lucky’ used with reference to a man’s life. Two boys start out in the world at the same time, having the same amount of education. When twenty years have passed, we find one of them wealthy and independent; we find him a successful professional man with an assured reputation, or perhaps at the head of a large commercial establishment employing many men, or perhaps a farmer owning and cultivating hundreds of acres of land. We find the second boy, grown now to be a man, working for perhaps a dollar or a dollar and a half a day, and living from hand to mouth in a rented house. When we remember that the boys started out in life equal-handed, we may be tempted to remark that the first boy has been fortunate, that fortune has smiled on him; and that the second has been unfortunate. There is no such nonsense as that. When the first boy saw a thing that he knew he ought to do, he did it; and he kept rising from one position to another until he became independent. The second boy was an eye-servant who was afraid that he would do more than he was paid to do-he was afraid that he would give fifty cents’ worth of labour for twenty-five cents […]The first boy did a dollar’s worth of work for fifty cents. He was always ready to be at the store before time; and then, when the bell rang to stop work, he would go to his employer and ask him if there was not something more that ought to be done that night before he went home. It was this quality in the first boy that made him valuable and caused him to rise. Why should we call him ‘fortunate’ or ‘lucky’? I think it would be much more suitable to say of him: ‘He is responsible.” – “Individual Responsibility: A Sunday Evening Talk,”-Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
At the onset of receiving an entering incoming freshmen class into a university, one becomes awed and buoyed by the extraordinary sense of possibility that each student has in his or her future. Whether they were a 4.0 student or a 2.8 student in high school, the beginning of freshman year matriculation is a unique opportunity in their lives to start anew and afresh. And Mr. Washington, founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University), provides an example of two young boys who possessed the same opportunities, but had very different outcomes 20 years later. It is all too easy to pass off Mr. Washington’s telling as some moralizing tale designed to motivate his students during one of his Sunday evening talks. Yet, we must be inclined to think that either Mr. Washington himself experienced this so-called tale directly-his autobiographical narrative Up from Slavery (1901) suggests as much-or he observed this in the lives of two of his students in his 34-year long tenure at the helm of Tuskegee University. Washington’s telling of such a tale might also raise the ire and suspicion of those who might argue the following:”It is roundly unfair for Mr. Washington to ascribe lacking personal responsibility to the woes of the second boy’s life because he doesn’t know what happened to him.” Notwithstanding any such dismissals, what Mr. Washington seeks to convey in this talk was the sense of a very real distinction between two young men who approached life matters-whether in the classroom or beyond-quite differently. The first young man was likely accused of being too punctual, too exact or just plain too serious. He often heard the now common proverbial expression: “It doesn’t take all of that.” And in spite of all attempts to justify the many failures of the second boy, all such attempts are undergirded with a profound sense of irony. (The very individuals who defend or make excuse for the second lad will also not hire him nor give him any responsibility regarding that, which is their own.) Wholly consistent with his reputation for being frank, honest and giving ‘straight talk,” Mr. Washington would not allow any such misgivings about his impressions of the success-or relative lack thereof-of the two boys described here. For Mr. Washington believed that “it does take all of that” to reach any desirable outcome, and one will be subject to the envy and criticism of others while doing it. Yet, enduring the sort of suffering experienced by the first boy is far better than experiencing the suffering of the second. We all experience one form of suffering or another, and if one learns how to suffer-to truly know how to suffer well in the thing that is good-one will learn how to succeed.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“I have been a slave once in my life-a slave in body. But I long since resolved that no inducement and no influence would ever make me a slave in soul, in my love for humanity, and in my search for truth.” -Booker T. Washington, (1907) The Negro in the South
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“More than that, a school that is content with merely turning out ladies and gentlemen who are not at the same time something else — who are not lawyers, doctors, business men, bankers, carpenters, farmers, teachers, not even housewives, but merely ladies and gentlemen — such a school is bound, in my estimation, to be more or less a failure.”-Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education_(1901)
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
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Tuskegee University: The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary
“Dear Sir: Your kind favor of May 2nd, asking if I could be induced to accept the position of President of Alcorn College is received. I am pleased to know that you should think of me in this connection, and of course feel complimented in the highest degree, but I think it best to say in the beginning that I do not think I could be induced to give up my present position. The salary you name is much larger than I am present receiving but I prefer to remain for the reason that I think for some years to come I can do MORE GOOD here than elsewhere, and for the further reason that there are a number of individuals throughout the North who have given and are giving rather large sums of money to this work, based on their faith in my devotion to this work […]”– “May 9, 1894,” Booker T. Washington
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
Highly successful men and women of character, competence and credentials are rarely without suitors for their services. And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee Institute (University) was no exception. Mr. W.B. Murdock of Alcorn College approached Mr. Washington hoping that he “could be induced to accept the position of President of Alcorn College.” And what is most remarkable in Mr. Washington’s reply was not his gracious recognition of the “compliment,” but rather his reasons for not acquiescing to the offer and to remain at Tuskegee Institute (University): “[…] I prefer to remain for the reason that I think for some years to come I can do MORE GOOD here than elsewhere…”. Imagine that. A person electing to remain at an institution on the basis of the GOOD he or she might be able to do as opposed to having a larger salary? Perhaps this is an old-fashioned 19th Century notion or perhaps Mr. Washington and men and women of his ilk-unlike many in the present century-were men and women of purpose. And “purpose” is the single greatest 7-letter word.
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