Tuskegee University Day proclaimed in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Cal. (WSFA) - It’s more than 2,000 miles away from the heart of campus, but on Tuesday there was a celebration of Tuskegee University underway... in Los Angeles.

During its regular meeting downtown, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which oversees the needs of some 10 million residents, declared Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, as “Dr. Lily D. McNair and Tuskegee University Day.”

McNair, who is serving as the famed 138-year-old university’s first female president, attended the event and was cheered on by dozens of alumni wearing their crimson and gold.

So why such a big deal from so far away? As it turns out, California isn’t really all that far away. It’s actually home to a large number of Tuskegee University students.

Behind Alabama and Georgia, California sends more of its children to the private university founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881 than any other state. The Golden State accounts for about 10 percent of Tuskegee’s student body!

“Los Angeles is home to thousands of Tuskegee University alumni," said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs of the five-person Board of Supervisors, "and apparently the graduating class of 2019 was dominated by students from Los Angeles.”

“I build on the legacy of Booker T. Washington, who said that ‘excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.’ We can thank Dr. Washington and Dr. George Washington Carver for their efforts and vision,” McNair stated after accepting the Board of Supervisors’ commendations. “We are destined to become even better than Booker T. Washington imagined we could be more than 100 years ago.”

The Board of Supervisors presented McNair with a scroll commemorating the honor, and Hahn presented her with a special letter penned and signed by Washington, dated Oct. 17, 1910.

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