Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) educate like no other. Students gain more than knowledge. They are instilled with pride about their rich heritage. They are empowered to believe that they can do anything. HBCUs have produced some of the country's finest. Oprah Winfrey graduated from Tennessee State University. Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. graduated from North Carolina A & T State University. Spike Lee graduated from Morehouse College. And those are just a few. Here other notable HBCU grads reveal how their experience shaped them.

Spel-House’s husband-wife acting team
Samuel L. Jackson

Morehouse College 1972/Theater major/English minor
Why Morehouse?
It’s the best school for Black males in the world!

What were the benefits?
The college has great social and historical associations and a greater perspective on what it takes to succeed and sustain in this world.

In an effort to avoid taking a speech class, Jackson agreed to perform in a school play for the director. That move paid off. Today, he is one of the industry’s most celebrated actors, having appeared in such films as Lakeview Terrace, Eve’s Bayou and Pulp Fiction.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson

Spelman College 1971 Theater major

Why Spelman? I had been on the campus since I was 14 years old. I was in the children’s theater there every summer. It was a done deal.

Spelman’s sisterhood: We [the women] were in charge of everything. It was very empowering. We believed what we were told: that we were the best and the brightest. We proceeded to negotiate life that way. We believed. There was something on that campus that made us believe.

Richardson met her future husband in the school’s theater building. Samuel and LaTanya have been sweethearts for more than 40 years. “You can’t explain it,” she says. “The importance of God in our lives has been the only factor that has made it happen.” They’ve been married for 29 years and have one daughter, Zöe.