Dr. Benjamin Payton tells Liz French how this university redefined itself from the inside out.

When Dr. Benjamin Payton became president of Tuskegee University in 1981, the African-American institution had already made its mark on American History. Founded by Dr. Booker T. Washington in 1881, the university opened the first VA hospital to be entirely staffed by African-Americans, and soon thereafter, it became the first and only African-American university to establish a school of veterinary medicine. In fact today, nearly 75% of all African-American veterinarians are Tuskegee graduates.

During World War II, when the US Army air corps discriminated against African-Americans, Tuskegee University built an airport and, in cooperation with the military, launched a program to train African-American combat pilots. After the program was approved by President Roosevelt, the 1,000-man squad, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, went on to become decorated war heroes. Since then, the university has made numerous other contributions to American society and the advancement of African-Americans.

Dr. Benjamin Payton

But to see a future as bright as its past, the rural Alabama university needed to redefine itself, starting with its name. “The university was called the Tuskegee Institute when I arrived in 1981, and people were not clear as to what exactly that meant,” said Payton, who immediately petitioned the board of trustees to change the name to Tuskegee University. “The goal was to clearly define what we are—a comprehensive, graduate and undergraduate academic institution focused on science, engineering, architecture, health,
science, business, computer science and biomedicine, as well as the traditional liberal arts.”

In 1985, Tuskegee attained university status, and today, it is comprised of the College of Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Sciences; the College of Business and Information Science; the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Physical Sciences; the College of Liberal Arts and Education; and the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health.

Around the same time, the university started down the long path toward offering doctorate degrees in high-demand areas. Payton and his team have spent years strengthening departments, identifying priority areas, shaping the specific degrees to be offered, and developing a funding base to sustain the programs for years to come. The university graduated its first class of Ph.D.s in materials science and engineering in 2003 and launched a second Ph.D. program in integrative biosciences two years later. “This has had a major impact on the perception of Tuskegee. We’ve seen an improvement in the quality of students applying and being admitted to the university,” said Payton.

To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Tuskegee University bestowed honorary doctorates of public service degrees on 70 of the less than 100 remaining Tuskegee Airmen. “We did it as a demonstration to the world that when given the opportunity, even those who have been the most discriminated against and the most oppressed, can and usually will demonstrate their capacity to make important contributions to society. And that is certainly what these men have done,” Payton said.

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Payton decided that if Tuskegee was going to be a university, it needed to look like one, so in 1986, he sparked a nearly 20-year-long renovation and rebuilding of the campus, which had begun to show its age. “In order to move forward, we had to make things uncomfortable for our students, faculty, and staff. During those years when the campus was dug up because we were replacing 100-year-old utility lines or tearing down buildings, we had remarkably few complaints because everyone understood what we were doing, and they were proud of it.”

One of the first major projects was construction of the General Daniel “Chappie” James Center for Aerospace Science and Health Education, which hosts the only accredited degree program in aerospace science engineering at an HBCU (any historically black college or university established before 1964 with the intention of serving the African-American community). It is also the largest indoor arena in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The restoration of Huntington Memorial Building, which was destroyed by fire in 1991, Thrasher Hall, and the “Old Administration Building” followed, and from then on, no building went untouched.

In 1994, Tuskegee University received funding from the Kellogg Foundation to build the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, one of only 14 such centers throughout the US and the UK and the only one located on a historically African American college campus. Kellogg sponsored $12 million of the $17 million needed to build the facility. “Our hotel an conference center bears the Kellogg name, which attests to the confidence they have in the future of Tuskegee University.”

In more recent years, the university has turned its attention to its residence halls, some of which have been gutted and replaced with 500 suite-like apartments with private baths, a move that has proven wildly successful. It is currently in the process of renovating other residence halls using the traditional dormitory model.

Return on investment
All in all, the university has invested well over $300 million in the campus over the past 25 years—quite an accomplishment for an independent and state-related university that has been struggling to get a fair allotment of funds since it opened its doors. Payton explained that although Tuskegee is not fully controlled by the state, the governor still appoints one-quarter of its trustees, and thus exercises significant influence on the institution. In 2003, after many years of negotiations, the university convinced the state of its obligation to provide significantly more funds. “We need to handle that carefully from year to year, but I am very pleased with the results so far,” said Payton.

What the university doesn’t get from the state and federal governments, it makes up for in private sector fundraising. It continues to receive significant donations from the public and private sector, as well as moral and financial support from its alumni.

With a clearly defined vision and identity, Tuskegee University has seen its endowment grow from less than $15 million in 1981 to approximately $90 million today, and its operating budget has increased from under $40 million a year to roughly over $100 million in the same time period. Student enrollment remains strong, although it has not yet reached 4,000, a goal set by Payton’s administration.

“The character of the institution has changed dramatically. We have seen the percentage of faculty with Ph.D. degrees jump enormously, as well as the number of students graduating from programs that require board certification, such as veterinary medicine, business, and engineering,” Payton said. “Although our growth seems modest, it is still significant, and it shows we are moving in the right direction,” said Payton.