The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, a Winston-Salem State University alumnus and leader of the Nation of Islam, was recently named to the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame and was inducted and honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the recent 22nd Annual Hall of Fame Weekend at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, GA. The Board of Directors of the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., a catalyst and partner for ensuring the stability, strength and excellence of the nation’s historically and/or predominantly Black Colleges and Universities, selected the inductees during its winter board meeting in Atlanta.
Born Louis Eugene Walcott on May 11, 1933 in Bronx, NY, Minister Louis Farrakhan was reared in a highly disciplined and spiritual household in Roxbury, MA. Raised by his mother, a native of the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, Louis and his brother Alvan learned early the value of work, responsibility and intellectual development.
He attended Winston-Salem State University from 1953-1955, after which he launched a promising career as a nightclub calypso singer.
In 1955 he gave up his music career and joined the Nation of Islam with the encouragement of Malcolm X. He rose within the Nation to head the Harlem Mosque and lead the American Muslim Mission. After the death of the Nation of Islam’s longtime spiritual leader Elijah Muhammad in 1975, Farrakhan formed a new organization of the same name in 1978. The Nation expanded steadily in influence over the next two decades, culminating in the highly successful Million Man March to Washington, DC, in 1995 and the Million Family March in 2000.
Other National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame inductees include:
Arts/Entertainment: Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson, Morehouse College;
Athletics: April Holmes, Norfolk State University;
Business/Industry: Ernest Hodge, Norfolk State University, and Donna James, North Carolina A&T State University
Community Service: Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, Virginia Union University
Education: Dr. Benjamin Payton, South Carolina State University
Faith and Theology: Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, Tennessee State University
Government /Law: The Honorable Johnny Ford, Knoxville College, and?Randall Robinson, Virginia Union University
Medicine: Alvin H. Crawford, M.D., Tennessee State University
Science: Roosevelt Calbert, Ph.D., Jackson State University
Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Elridge W. McMillan, Clark Atlanta University, Benjamin S. Ruffin (Posthumously), North Carolina Central University and Percy E. Sutton, Tuskegee University.