NSBE Hosts 'Black Girls Rock'

The National Society for Black Engineers held its first “Black Girls Rock” event, an Academy Awards-style ceremony honoring outstanding black students and faculty members at Auburn.

The event was organized by the Auburn University chapter of NSBE and Program Chair Carmen Stowe.

Charles Keyes, from Tuskegee, introduced the event and announced the evenings’ awards, which included a student “shot-caller” award and a faculty “rock star” award.

Throughout the event, Keyes told audience members of “all colors” to love and appreciate their own beauty, and joked that the non-black audience members were “honorarily black” for the evening.

The event formally began with a speech from Auburn alumna Regina Sanders, who graduated in 1995 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Sanders encouraged Auburn’s black female students to “See clearly, act confidently and walk humbly.”

After Sanders’ address, several female students entertained guests with singing and dancing before faculty awards began.

Winners of the faculty awards included Julia Charles, who received the “rock star” award, and Adrienne Duke, who received the “living legend” award.

“I think that Auburn University really needs to have more spaces and more awards and more acknowledgement of black faculty, black staff who do so much behind the scenes to make things happen for undergraduates and for graduate students,” Duke said. “I know it may seem like we don’t exist, because there are very few of us here, but we do exist.”

After faculty awards was a brief intermission, where audience members were served dinner and dessert and danced to music. Three students also gave a spoken word performance dealing largely with the experience of being black in white spaces.

Among student winners was Bria Butler, junior in social work, who received the “shot-caller” award for her involvement in various leadership positions.

“This representation is important beyond words,” Butler said. “I’m just so honored to be in the midst of all these people.”

Winners:

• The Change Agent Award: Daphney Portis
• The Star Power Award: Charmaine Tutson
• The Shot Caller Award: Bria Butler
• The Rockstar Award: Julia Charles
• The Living Legend Award: Adrienne Duke
• The Social Humanitarian Award: Cheryl Seals
• The Tiger Stripes Award: Davonya Person

Correction: A previous version of this piece misstated who organized this event and Bria Butler's major. We regret the error.