One of my life regrets is not attending college at an HBCU (historically Black college or university). As a high school senior, I applied to Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Tuskegee universities, along with Alabama, Auburn, UAB and others.

I only received one acceptance letter – from Auburn.

I earned a degree and met my wife at Auburn, so I’d say it worked out. But life has a way of coming full circle. Today, I work at a company that takes great pride in supporting HBCUs on multiple levels in numerous ways by investing expertise and financial capital into advancing the institutions and their students.

Alabama Power and our parent company, Southern Company, lean into every opportunity to support these Black institutions.

At the Southern Company level, we partner with more than 30 HBCUs on inclusion initiatives; partnering with Apple, we launched the Propel Center, a global technology and innovation hub working to revolutionize the experiences of students at HBCUs; and we have almost 600 employees representing more than 40 HBCUs across the country.

At Alabama Power, we focus on this state’s 13 HBCUs, which is more than any other state in the country.

Alabama Power’s HBCU strategy leverages the company’s resources and partnerships to enhance educational opportunities, foster economic development and build stronger communities.

In 2024, the Alabama Power Foundation granted more than $1.3 million to the state’s HBCUs and related organizations.

We also partner with HBCUs like Trenholm and Bishop State, along with other community colleges, to offer lineworker training, fast-track HVAC training and, most recently, customer service training programs.

As I write this column, I’m part of a team planning a “Corporate Takeover” at Alabama State University this spring. The three-day event will feature engagement around workforce development, professional development involving leadership from ASU and Alabama Power, and the highlight of the takeover will be a career fair where students will be able to apply for jobs, internships and co-ops on the spot.

Alabama Power also hosts the annual AABE (American Association of Blacks in Energy) HBCU Energy Hackathon, which is supported by the Alabama Power Foundation.

Not only does Alabama Power put its corporate backing behind the Birmingham Promise career development program for high school seniors, the company’s Birmingham Division also hires and mentors multiple interns through the Promise program each spring.

Alabama A&M team members with their pitch coaches and Ralph Williams Jr., vice president of Alabama Power’s Birmingham Division (center), at the 2024 AABE HBCU Energy Hackathon. (contributed)

Alabama Power proudly helped make history at Tuskegee University when the Golden Tigers football team was able to play under newly installed LED lights at its own Abbott Stadium for the first time last season.

And all of these initiatives are just a sampling of the many ways the utility supports HBCUs.

Leading the efforts behind Alabama Power’s HBCU engagement is Birmingham Division Vice President Ralph Williams Jr., who studied political science at Alabama A&M.

“For more than 150 years, HBCUs have been recognized as sanctuaries of opportunity, engagement and empowerment for Black students, who were prohibited from attending white-only institutions,” Williams said. “HBCUs came into existence out of necessity, but today they should be celebrated and supported as indispensable in the development of the next generation of Black leaders.”

In essence, Alabama Power’s support of HBCUs goes beyond remembering the slaves, abolitionists, pioneers and foot soldiers of the past. It honors them by making sure that Black professors, Black doctors, Black lawyers and Black CEOs of the future are not merely a dream, but an assumption.

Between the Lines is a monthly column by Alabama Power’s Anthony Cook, sharing energy education that powers our daily lives.

Tuskegee University debuted its new LED stadium lights last season as the kickoff to its 100th homecoming weekend. (contributed)