Producing Charismatic Leaders to Face Global Issues

t Fisk University we know that you are the future of this nation. We also know that you are challenged to compete within a multicultural world, a highly technological society, and to prepare yourself to address the global issues of race relations. That is why for over 130 years this venerable institution has beckoned the leaders who came before you to choose Fisk over all other colleges and universities. Here at Fisk we take pride in cultivating, motivating, and graduating future leaders. Leaders who will be taught by a faculty who are second to none; Leaders who are known by name, rather than a number; Leaders who will learn to think critically about their chosen field of study; and Leaders whose professors recognize their potential and set no boundaries on their ability to succeed. We prepare you for leadership in graduate school, in your career, and for life. When you matriculate at Fisk University you will know first hand that this “experience” has provided you with the skills and resourcefulness to be an imaginative leader in the twenty‑first century.

The resurgence of the Fisk University’s Race Relations Institute speaks to the challenges that face you regardless of your major field of study. This revitalization is due to funds provided by a grant of $2.6 million from the W.K. Kellog Foundation and will be carried out over five years, in cooperation with the Center for Living Democracy of Brattleboro, Vermont. Fisk University’s Race Relations Institute was founded in 1942, by the University’s first African‑American president, Charles Spurgeon Johnson. Johnson’s foresight gave birth to The Race Relations Institute approximately 7 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Fisk then and now continues to be the hub of international dialogue on race relations. Today, President Clinton’s “Third Revolution” has deep roots at Fisk. The appointment of Fisk alumnus and renowned historian John Hope Franklin as Chair of the president’s Advisory Council on Race and the strategy to encourage a national dialogue on race is the successful model first created by Johnson. Fisk’s son, W.E.B. DuBois, in his prophetic masterpiece The Souls of Black Folk (1903) knew then the problems the United States would face with regard to race relations. Johnson in 1942 took the baton passed by DuBois to the next level. In this millennium, Hazel R. O’Leary will take Fisk University’s Race Relations to the next phase. You will be challenged to take these dialogues even further. You can be a part of what’s happening at Fisk University.

Photo by Vandro L. Rogers

to be digitized for access through the Internet. Documents housed at Black organizations and education institutions, like the “Abraham Lincoln Bible” of Fisk’s Special Collections, will be available around the world. For you, the future leaders of this nation, the HOLDINGS Project will have a monumental impact on your lives and the lives of future generations.

We know that you are about to make one of the most crucial decisions of your life time. We know that you can receive an education at any university in the United States. However, there is a university that not only provides you with a rigorous academic atmosphere, but also prepares you for leadership. . . .Fisk University. . . .where the tradition of leadership and excellence began with Fisk students. The world famous Fisk Jubilee Singers set out to raise funds for their school in 1873 to ensure Fisk University’s doors remained open for future generations. They took bold steps to introduce the “Spiritual” to the world. Equally bold steps were taken by their successors, Fisk student activists who took part in the Civil Rights Movement, The Million Man March and the Race Relations Institute Conference held at Fisk University. Choose to graduate from Fisk University where one in six of the nation’s African American doctors, dentists, and lawyers graduated. Choose Fisk University where a degree is known and respected by graduate and professional schools, and employers around the world. By Angela M. Bevens.