My experience at an HBCU

By Jesse Jackson

SED President, Iota Zeta Chapter - KKΨ

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

For the past 3 years I’ve had the privilege of attending North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, the largest Historically Black University in the country. NC A&T is home to over 13,000 students and has the highest graduation rate of black engineers and agricultural students than any other school in the nation. It is also home to the award winning university marching band, the “Blue and Gold Marching Machine.” The band has an average of about 200 members which includes wind players, percussion, and an auxiliary group. The band program started in 1918 as a 50 piece ensemble and would grow to the over 250 piece band it is today. The BGMM is ran by director of bands Dr. Kenneth G. Ruff, and assistant directors Thomas Warner, Lamon Lawhorn, and Aaron Campbell.

I joined the band program on July 27th, 2019, which was the first day of band camp for the 2019-2020 marching season. Right away I was greeted with welcomes and support from my fellow freshmen peers as well as the veteran marchers of the band. This didn’t last long though as throughout band camp I had to deal with intense morning workouts to get in shape for the year, long hours of marching and learning music, and lots of rules I had to follow as a first year marcher. Once the school year actually started, I began to get a hang of things as my body adjusted to the rigorous practice schedule; practice everyday, 4 or 5 o’clock PM until about 10 P.M. This began to be a lot for me as I also had to wake up every morning for my 8 AM class and find time to do my school work. I would often show signs of weakness in front of my freshmen peers and the “old heads” but they always gave me good advice on how to carry on through the tough times. Every day I was reminded why I joined the band program and I still take the lessons I learned back then, today.

Unfortunately our time in the program would be cut short as the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread all over the world and everyone at A&T was forced to move out and stay at home for the foreseeable future. It wasn’t too fun not being able to play my saxophone in the band for such a long time but eventually we would return in the fall of 2020. The band spent the fall semester creating a virtual “halftime show” since the football season would not be occurring. In the spring, I was lucky enough to have been chosen for the Kappa Kappa Psi virtual intake process for the Iota Zeta Chapter. Through this time I was able to learn so much not only from the members that came before me but from my fellow intake brothers as well. Being a white person joining a black chapter seemed strange at first as I did not think they would accept me like their own, but I was very wrong. Nobody cared that I looked different or came from a different background than they did. I was accepted into the fraternity and have managed to build a great relationship with every brother that I encounter.

Since joining the Iota Zeta chapter, I started to gain a lot of recognition on campus, especially with my name being very recognizable. People would ask me all sorts of questions, mainly why I came to A&T or if I liked it there. I’m very fortunate to have a good reputation on campus and people seem to recognize the service I do for the community. As I’m now halfway through my senior year, I often reflect on my time at North Carolina A&T. I’ve gotten to meet a ton of amazing and wonderful people, be exposed to all sorts of new music and artists that I never thought I’d hear, learn about people and their upbringings and why things are the way they are today, but most importantly; I’ve gotten the opportunity to serve. I would’ve only accomplished the things I have, if it wasn’t for my willingness to serve and learn, and try to help people as much as I can. I appreciate everything North Carolina A&T State University, Kappa Kappa Psi, and the Blue and Gold Marching Machine have done for me, and hopefully someday I can return the favor. Aggie Pride!