In September 1987, NBC debuted the iconic show “A Different World,” which aired for six seasons and took us into the lives of students at the fictional HBCU, Hillman College. Less than five months later, future Academy Award winner Spike Lee released School Daze, partially based on his experience at the HBCU Morehouse College. The following year, Honda created the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge. This year, the 36th Honda Campus All-Star Challenge will take place on Thursday, April 17.
“When you think about some of the stories that have come out of Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), like Nikema Williams, who is the congresswoman here in Atlanta who replaced John Lewis after his passing,” shared Jasmine Cockfield, Project Leader of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge project lead at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “She’s a graduate of Talladega College, but she was also an HCASC student when she was at Talladega, so now she’s one of our HCASC Hall of Famers. So, you see somebody like a Nikema Williams story, and you’re like, wow! She was at Talladega. She did the Honda Campus All-Star challenge. She credits a lot of her being able to speak publicly and the confidence that she has to programs like HCASC. That is enough in itself to tell the story of Honda’s commitment to one.”
Cockfield, a graduate of Jackson State University and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., said it gives her a thrill to get up every day and continue to do this work.
“Over 36 years, Honda has been committed to the HBCU community. The number rings somewhere around $14 million in giving in total in those 36 years, so this year is just as they would say, yet another drop in the bucket and another way to say we’re committed,” she said.
Honda offering $500,000 in grants
More than 200 students and coaches from 32 HBCU teams nicknamed the “Thrilling 32″ will compete for the 2025 National Championship title and a share of $500,000 in institutional grants from Honda, near the American Honda corporate headquarters in Torrance, Calif., on April 17.
The “Thrilling 32” competing for the championship are Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University. Albany State University, Benedict College, Bowie State University, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Dillard University, University of the District of Columbia, Edward Waters University, Fisk University, Hampton University, Howard University, Kentucky State University, Langston University, Lincoln University-Pennsylvania, Livingstone College, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morehouse College, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Paul Quinn College, Prairie View A&M University, Rust College, Shaw University, Southern University – Baton Rouge, Spelman College, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, Virginia State University, and Winston-Salem State University. The championship can be watched on the HCASC YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/hcascnct.
