Joel Brown met with students, alumni, faculty, the president, and Smith's storied basketball coach and received an up-close look at some of the innovative new programs underway on campus -- including the first fully-accredited eSports degree curriculum at an HBCU and Smith's "Sustainability Village," an on-campus urban farm which aims to bridge the fresh food divide in the university's historically Black neighborhood.
Our America: The HBCU Experience at JCSU also explores the tension gentrification is having on the neighborhood surrounding the university. As Charlotte grows and gentrifies, the students and staff hope to play a lead role in keeping the legacy of the university, built by formerly enslaved people, alive and relevant to the neighborhood's many newcomers.
Our America: The HBCU Experience Special