“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”

One can find no greater joy than to serve a cause higher than one’s self-particularly when the cause is associated with one’s work. And it would be very difficult to find a historic figure whose life and work better embodies this notion than Booker T. Washington and the work of building Tuskegee Institute (University). Consider the circumstances of his arrival in Tuskegee from Hampton Institute. An abandoned hen house served as his first classroom; His students possessed varying levels of literacy, and above all, he had few resources to purchase additional property for the institute’s growth-pawning his own watch in repayment of an early loan. And while he might have easily thought of himself and abandoned the entire enterprise, he did precisely the opposite. Mr. Washington “completely [forgot] himself” to serve a “great cause.” Serving a cause greater than personal preference often leads to the kind of success that benefits not only a singular person but both people and purposes. For careers fill pockets; Careers linked to callings fulfill people; and fulfilled people achieve great purposes.

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

7th President, Tuskegee University

#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition

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.

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.

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

After “integrity,” and “knowledge,” “influence” is the third greatest 9-letter word. And in this letter to the 27th President of the United States of America, William Howard Taft, Booker T. Washington once again demonstrates that the range of his “influence” extended to the very highest levels of American government. In earlier correspondence, President Taft, who succeeded President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909, made it crystal clear that the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University would still be expected to play a similar major role in advising the President of the United States as he had done with President Roosevelt. (The correspondence reveals that Roosevelt not only recommended Washington’s pivotal role in consulting on major affairs but also Taft readily assented.) All the same, we learn in the letter to President Taft three very important considerations about the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University and his “influence.” First, we learn, contrary to popular opinion, he used his “influence” to address issues that concerned one of his most important constituents: African Americans. Here again, one would be remiss to think that Mr. Washington did not advocate on issues of importance. Rather, he moved “in a rather quiet way” as he indicated in a previous communiqué.  (The loudest communication is not necessarily the most effective communication, and Mr. Washington’s direct correspondence with the President of the United States is effective communication.) Second, the “influence” of Mr. Washington’s correspondence was certain in that it was marked “personal and confidential.” This was not one of many letters that the President of the United State or any man or woman situated at the helm of a large organization receives that may or may not come to his attention or was handled through an intermediary. It is clear that Mr. Washington’s letters would be read by the President himself. So much so that Mr. Washington did not even need a reply: “Please do not take the time to answer this letter.” Third and last, Mr. Washington’s “influential” advocacy was owing to sound, sober and logical reasoning. His letter thoughtfully and dispassionately articulates the potential success for President Taft in following his suggestion based upon both past and present successes in similar matters. (No doubt Mr. Washington was likely part of such decisions during the Roosevelt Administration.) All three of these reasons-along with many, many more-are why Tuskegee University celebrates the “influence” of Booker T. Washington in this the centennial year (1915-2015) since his passing.

Hear this again and again: Positional and titular authority is the lowest form of authority. If a man or woman cannot nor does not command the respect of his supervisors, peers, colleagues and subordinates independent of a position or title, this man or woman is no greater than the man or woman who has no such position and title. Positions change, and the only permanence one can possess is that found in one’s own person in back of the position. This is why the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University constantly impressed upon his students the need to constantly improve their own persons. Note the following: It is but half the task to secure the title or position. The most significant half is what one does with the title or position. (One must not only plan how to get the position or title, but what to do with the position and title when one gets it.) And the attention paid to one’s own person helps towards this end. Aside from acquiring credentials and competence, the comprehensive development of one’s person is a third facet that can never be taken from the person in back of a position. More importantly, these facets are easily transferable from position to position, unit to unit or organization-to-organization, which is why the singular, solitary focus upon a position and title (as opposed to the development of one’s own person) is unwise. For the man or woman who has “strength aside from the title” and who has “brains” in their “heads” will always possess these attributes without regards to a position or a title. (And they will always be desired and in demand.) And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University who we celebrate in the centennial year since his passing (1915-2015) was not only such a man, but he also offered these wise “words” and set forth the accompanying “works” in his 34-year long presidency at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University (1881-1915).

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

“Matter already attended to…Will send you paper with announcement.” -November 12, 1902, “From Emmett Jay Scott to Booker T. Washington”

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson  

A man or woman situated similar to the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University can hear no more satisfying words than the following: “Matter already attended to…” And this refrain, “[the] matter [has] already [been] attended to” is typically uttered by the best and most successful employees. And Booker T. Washington’s long-time aid, Emmett Jay Scott, was such an employee. (Note: If a man or woman could successfully work for Booker T. Washington, he could go on to successfully work for anyone, which Mr. Scott did at the highest federal levels.) For the man Booker-as demonstrated in his correspondence-was a man of integrity, knowledge, exacting detail and substance-not messiness, ignorance or fluff. He managed serious matters within the Tuskegee organization that impacted both the “macro” and “micro,” and to have one of his subordinates to express in response to an earlier query that  “[the] matter [has] already [been] attended to” must have brought deep delight and satisfaction to Mr. Washington. For when a “matter [has] already [been] attended to” in an organization as large as the one he served as chief executive officer over, he need not attend to it. Moreover, if he need not attend to such matters then he could go on to attend to matters that he alone could attend to. And herein lies the deep delight and satisfaction. For like Booker T. Washington’s long and impressive 34-year leadership at the helm of Tuskegee University, the best leaders select the best men and women that enable him or her to lead. And Mr. Washington’s success at selecting such able men and women is evidenced in that his leadership is celebrated at Tuskegee University in this the centennial year since his passing (1915-2015).

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

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 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” 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.

“It seems to me that there never was a time in the history of the country when those interested in education should the more earnestly consider to what extent the mere acquiring of the ability to read and write, the mere acquisition of a knowledge of literature and science, makes men producers, lovers of labour, independent, honest, unselfish, and, above all, good. Call education by what name you please, if it fails to bring about these results among the masses, it falls short of its highest end…How I wish that from the most cultured and highly endowed university in the great North to the humblest log cabin school-house in Alabama, we could burn, as it were, into the hearts and heads of all that usefulness, that service to our brother, is the supreme end of education.”-Booker T. Washington, (1899) The Future of the American Negro

Cornel West suggests the following about the “quantity” of educated persons in the present generation as opposed to the “quality” of the past generation in his best-selling work, (1994) Race Matters: “THERE has not been a time in the history of black people in this country when the quantity of politicians and intellectuals was so great, yet the quality of both groups has been so low…How do we account for the absence of the Frederick Douglasses, Sojourner Truths, Martin Luther King, Jrs., Malcolm Xs, and Fannie Lou Hamers in our time?” And perhaps the answer to Professor West’s rhetorical query resides in what the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University wrote in the above passage: “…usefulness, that service to our brother, is the supreme end of education.” (Here again, Washington’s Tuskegee idea was not one based solely upon the work of one’s “hands”. Rather, the complete configuration of his conception of education-as ought be for all of education-was that of Heart (Character)-Head (Competence)-Hands (Capable). And once again, the little-discussed and deeply personal notion of the individual “heart” in modern education from which the “service” of the head and hands flow is likely why the “quality…has been so low.” The heart (character) is the seat of all an individual’s ambitions, ideas, motives and foci, and if the heart is not rooted in the idea of genuine and authentic service to mankind without respect to color, then the number of degrees, the name of the universities or the notoriety of the career matters little. And this is precisely why the “education”-not simply degree-received at Tuskegee University revolves around the university’s motto: Knowledge-Leadership-Service. 

“…I have tried to pursue the policy of acting in a business-like prompt way especially when we are able to pay. I wish you would take up all these small accounts that are overdue and settle them. It is doubly necessary that an institution that depends for its living on begging money should keep a good business reputation. It is much more necessary than for an institution doing a strictly commercial business. It does not take long for a rumor to get circulated in any community to the effect that we are not businesslike and this hurts us in getting funds. For all these reasons it is very necessary that all the matters I am referring to in this letter be carefully, systematically and promptly attended to in your office. Some of the letters regarding the bills that I refer to I enclose.” -Booker T. Washington, “February 13, 1915”

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson  

As the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, repeatedly demonstrated during his 34-year long administration, the stewardship of one’s existing resources goes hand-in-hand with the petitioning of additional resources. And Mr. Washington here again describes, in what would be the last year of his life, an important philanthropic consideration between a non-profit institution like Tuskegee University-and similarly situated higher education institutions-as opposed to a for-profit “commercial business.” A non-profit institution seeks to serve a higher and greater good, and while profit and revenue are supremely important drivers in such institutions, its focus upon an area of societal need such as higher education makes profit generation only one of several considerations unlike “commercial business”. And this is why non-profit institutions rely upon philanthropic (fundraising) gifts to help support their efforts to serve the larger good. (In the case of Mother Tuskegee, the education and the comprehensive development of her students is the highest and larger good.) Notwithstanding, such a noble aim does not exempt a non-profit institution from “keep[ing] a good business reputation” particularly when it continuously seeks “funds” to support its mission and vision-its tradition and trajectory. Without respect to an institution’s noble ambitions, if it does not manage its existing resources in a manner that demonstrates that it can manage additional resources, it “hurt[s]” itself “in [the] getting [of] funds.” And Mr. Washington tells us precisely why it becomes “difficult” for others to give to it: “It does not take long for a rumor to get circulated in any community to the effect that we are not businesslike…” Moreover, if such a “rumor” is circulated in the kind of “community” that can actually provide a non-profit institution with major, transformational assistance in the pursuit of its noble aims then the hurt is extremely harmful. For no corporation, foundation, organization, entity or individual donor who has successfully stewarded its own fiscal resources will give them to another who has not successfully stewarded its own-however small or meager. These entities are also accountable to their own stakeholders, customers and constituents who rightly question where their gifts are directed, and stakeholder’s rest easier knowing that major gifts from entities they are vested in are going to non-profit institutions who will steward them appropriately. And Mr. Washington, who Tuskegee University celebrates in the centennial year since his passing (1915-2015), was the recipient of many such major, transformational gifts because he “carefully, systematically and promptly attend[ed]” to the stewardship of Mother Tuskegee’s resources from 1881-1915.

“I do not say you should not use them, should not posses them, should not crave them, but do not make the mistake of feeling that titles are going to help you, unless you have got strength aside from the title. No amount of titles will put brains into a person’s head if the brains are not there before.”-Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk,” January 10, 1909

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson  

Hear this again and again: Positional and titular authority is the lowest form of authority. If a man or woman cannot nor does not command the respect of his supervisors, peers, colleagues and subordinates independent of a position or title, this man or woman is no greater than the man or woman who has no such position and title. Positions change, and the only permanence one can possess is that found in one’s own person in back of the position. This is why the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University constantly impressed upon his students the need to constantly improve their own persons. Note the following: It is but half the task to secure the title or position. The most significant half is what one does with the title or position. (One must not only plan how to get the position or title but what to do with the position and title when one gets it.) And the attention paid to one’s own person helps towards this end. Aside from acquiring credentials and competence, the comprehensive development of one’s person is a third facet that can never be taken from the person in back of a position. More importantly, these facets are easily transferrable from position to position, unit to unit or organization-to-organization, which is why the singular, solitary focus upon a position and title as opposed to the development of one’s own person is unwise. For the man or woman who has “strength aside from the title” and who has “brains” in their “heads” will always possess these attributes without regards to a position or a title. (And they will always be desired and in demand.) And the founding principal and president of Tuskegee University who we celebrate in the centennial year since his passing (1915-2015) was not only such a man, but he also offered these wise “words” and set forth the accompanying “works” in his 34-year long presidency at the helm of Tuskegee (Institute) University (1881-1915).

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

“I believe that it is impossible for a person to live a high life, a noble life in the future world, who does not live a high life in this world…And so, I want you to get the idea that each day brings to you a serious responsibility. You should try to get as much out of the twenty-four hours in each day as is possible for an individual to get out of twenty-four hours. Learn to get out of each day, out of the twelve hours of each day, just as much as possible every for one to get. Learn to get out of every hour, every year as much as it is possible for you to get. You have only one life to live; remember you pass through this life but once, and if you fail, you fail, perhaps, for all time. You should consider closely the serious obligation you have upon you to live properly through a day, through a year, and you should try to get everything that is best out of that day, out of that year.” -Booker T. Washington, “A Sunday Evening Talk”

In perhaps one of the earliest Sunday evening talks the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University gave at the onset of the New Year in 1901-for this talk was given on February 17, 1901-Booker T. Washington speaks not so much to resolutions but the “serious responsibility” and the “serious obligation” to live a life of consistency “each day.” (Character is nothing but Consistency. It is neither one’s highest moment nor one’s lowest moment. Character is one’s most Consistent moment.) And there is no more telltale sign for objectively assessing, counting, chronicling or journaling the consistency of one’s character than to evaluate what one does hourly, daily, monthly and yearly. For a new year is but a new day, and there are 365 of these. Moreover, the years accumulated into the respective time one receives in a singular life hopefully will constitute a life well lived, which is why Mr. Washington describes the use of one’s time as “serious.” The years spent in a well-lived life are often found in how the days, hours and months of one’s life were spent. And such was the life of Booker T. Washington who Tuskegee University honors in this the centennial year of his passing (1915-2015).

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

7th President, Tuskegee University

#TrustTheTuskegeeTrajectory #TrustTheTuskegeeTradition

“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”

“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

“Mr. J.H. Washington, Supt. of Ind. Not later than this week I wish you to go over the whole subject of the wages of students and recommend whatever reduction you think should take place. I wish a reduction of not less than one-third to be made. Small boys whose work can be of almost no service need special attention.”“September 4, 1894,” -Booker T. Washington

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson  

Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.

“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  

“Dear Taylor: This letter may be somewhat of a surprise to you, but I hope you can see your way clear to accede to our request. After deliberating for a good deal of time over the matter, we have determined to put some one of our graduates in the field in the North to collect money for the school; interest and instruct the people about our work, and we have settled on the conclusion that we can get no better person to represent us than yourself.” -Booker T. Washington, June 9th 1893

Aside from her students, there is no more important constituent group for Mother Tuskegee than her students (alumni) who have graduated from Tuskegee Institute (University). And this correspondence between Booker T. Washington and Robert Wesley Taylor illustrates the strong ties and affinity within the Tuskegee University Family. Note, the Founding Principal “deliberated for a good deal of time” when considering who among “the Sons and Daughters of Booker and Mother Tuskegee” would best represent the institution. Among the many shining arrows in their quiver, Robert Wesley Taylor was preeminent among the family’s best and brightest. Although familial relations dictate equal filial love among siblings, when parents have a need it is not unusual for the strongest, most diligent, most generous and most capable son or daughter to respond. This describes the character of Mr. Taylor. Hearkening to the true spirit of Alma Mater, he regarded Tuskegee as his “intellectual nourishing mother.” For Mother Tuskegee had nourished his nascent personal, intellectual, social and spiritual appetite with the milk of George Washington Carver and Robert R. Taylor among countless numbers of eminent professors, scholars and staff members who are still nourishing students today. Mr. Taylor did not stop at child-like professions of love for his mother. He exhibited the attitude of a full-grown son who responded with a ready reply when he was called. And “while children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children,” a child does well when he or she has left home to help restore the nourishing ability of his or her mother so that mother is able to continue nurturing many, many more sons and daughters for years to come. And in this the centennial year since the passing of Booker T. Washington (1915-2015), there is no greater time than the present for the sons and daughters (and supporters) of Mother Tuskegee to support both the tradition and trajectory of Tuskegee University.

“…I have tried to pursue the policy of acting in a business-like prompt way especially when we are able to pay. I wish you would take up all these small accounts that are overdue and settle them. It is doubly necessary that an institution that depends for its living on begging money should keep a good business reputation. It is much more necessary than for an institution doing a strictly commercial business. It does not take long for a rumor to get circulated in any community to the effect that we are not businesslike and this hurts us in getting funds. For all these reasons it is very necessary that all the matters I am referring to in this letter be carefully, systematically and promptly attended to in your office. Some of the letters regarding the bills that I refer to I enclose.” -Booker T. Washington, “February 13, 1915”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson  

As the founding principal and president of Tuskegee (Institute) University, Booker T. Washington, repeatedly demonstrated during his 34-year long administration, the stewardship of one’s existing resources goes hand-in-hand with the petitioning of additional resources. And Mr. Washington here again describes, in what would be the last year of his life, an important philanthropic consideration between a non-profit institution like Tuskegee University-and similarly situated higher education institutions-as opposed to a for-profit “commercial business.” A non-profit institution seeks to serve a higher and greater good, and while profit and revenue are supremely important drivers in such institutions, its focus upon an area of societal need such as higher education makes profit generation only one of several considerations unlike “commercial business”. And this is why non-profit institutions rely upon philanthropic (fundraising) gifts to help support their efforts to serve the larger good. (In the case of Mother Tuskegee, the education and the comprehensive development of her students is the highest and larger good.) Notwithstanding, such a noble aim does not exempt a non-profit institution from “keep[ing] a good business reputation” particularly when it continuously seeks “funds” to support its mission and vision-its tradition and trajectory. Without respect to an institution’s noble ambitions, if it does not manage its existing resources in a manner that demonstrates that it can manage additional resources, it “hurt[s]” itself “in [the] getting [of] funds.” And Mr. Washington tells us precisely why it becomes “difficult” for others to give to it: “It does not take long for a rumor to get circulated in any community to the effect that we are not businesslike…” Moreover, if such a “rumor” is circulated in the kind of “community” that can actually provide a non-profit institution with major, transformational assistance in the pursuit of its noble aims then the hurt is extremely harmful. For no corporation, foundation, organization, entity or individual donor who has successfully stewarded its own fiscal resources will give them to another who has not successfully stewarded its own-however small or meager. These entities are also accountable to their own stakeholders, customers and constituents who rightly question where their gifts are directed, and stakeholder’s rest easier knowing that major gifts from entities they are vested in are going to non-profit institutions who will steward them appropriately. And Mr. Washington, who Tuskegee University celebrates in the centennial year since his passing (1915-2015), was the recipient of many such major, transformational gifts because he “carefully, systematically and promptly attend[ed]” to the stewardship of Mother Tuskegee’s resources from 1881-1915.

Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson  

“My position in respect to the students and the public is peculiar, and I must see that everyone does the highest service in benefitting the students, and must get rid of any obstacle that prevents this result.” “March 26, 1895,” -Booker T. Washington