A Letter of Thanks From Talladega College

I just got this unexpected letter of thanks from them this a.m. A class act. Nice to see this kind of thinking remains in some isolated pockets of Academia.

As the President of this great institution, Talladega College, I along with the band staff, and each band member want to thank you for your most recent overwhelming and unbiased support for Talladega College. Since the Inaugural performance on January 20th, a few have coined the Talladega College Marching Tornadoes Band as “America’s Band” – we like that because in the spirit of freedom, we performed for all Americans. Let the dream of freedom live on!

Today, the “Great Tornado Band” stands in awe of the support we received and continue to receive, for the trip to perform at the Inaugural Parade in Washington, DC. As I have stated and still maintain, the trip was never about politics; it was a trip for our students to perform as musicians on a once-in-a-lifetime national stage and to take part in this history making civic ceremony. More intrinsically, many memories were shared amongst our students and when this academic year is over, these students will never perform together again.

As the oldest private Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the State of Alabama, we value the principles of freedom and the choices we, as citizens of the United States, are blessed with each and every day. This year, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary [November 1867 – November 2017]. Talladega College was founded by two men, Thomas Tarrant and William Savery, who were previously slaves, but wanted their children to have the same advantages warranted other children through education. Because of your unselfish support, we continue to light the dark pathways of education to keep the vision of our founders shining bright for all who join our ranks. Thank you for partnering with us. May God bless you and may He continue to bless America!

Talladega and Tougalou are historically black colleges founded in the 1860s right after the Civil War. The American Missionary Association (a mostly protestant organization established to promote the abolition of slavery and to educate freed blacks) and the Congregational Churches were the primary supporters for both schools. I think support to the colleges continues from the United Church of Christ - the successor denomination from with the merger of the Congregational Churches and some other smaller denominations.

I worked in the 1970s in an office where one of our officers was a black Congregational minister who had previously been the Dean at Talladega. We had many discussions, he and I. He was a super intelligent, soft spoken and remarkable guy. Hus time at Talladega was during the height of the 1960s civil rights activities in the south. We had many great discussions. He was a super smart soft spoken guy. Likely just was the students needed when he was Dean at Talladega.

Here is Trumps Executive Order forming a White House for support and advancement of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/28/presidential-executive-order-white-house-initiative-promote-excellence

Here is an article reporting on the occasion of the Talladega College President being present for Trump’s signing of his Executive Order regarding the HBCUs.

https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/breaking-talladega-college-president-hawkins-on-hand-for-trump-s/article_7c9bd186-fdf4-11e6-a9a1-fbebb9b0111b.html

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