The 2025 Black Enterprise Smart HBCU Hackathon: A Decade Of Building Black Tech Excellence
Ashlei Stevens
August 22, 2025
The BE Smart HBCU Hackathon is back and bigger than ever!
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BE SMART HACKATHON 2025
DATE
NOV 5-8, 2025
LOCATION
Sheraton/LeMeridien | Charlotte, NC
The 2025 BE Smart HBCU Hackathon features students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to compete in what some call the new résumé. This group of top talent demonstrated how well they collaborate, how quickly they think, how they fail fast and learn faster, and articulate their ideas in public. Congratulations to our 2024 1st place team, Protégé from Spelman College!
Hackathon Partners
2024 COMPETITORS
ARTICLES
Kimatni Rawlins’ ‘The Driving Force’ Internship Helps HBCU Students Become Automotive Industry Leaders
Sharelle B. McNair
March 2, 2025
The program accepted 18 students from Morgan State in Baltimore and 12 students from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.
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Spelman Takes Top Prize At 9th Annual Black Enterprise BE Smart Hackathon
Black Enterprise
November 18, 2024
Cheers reverberated throughout downtown Charlotte as the team of coders from Spelman College displayed their tech prowess and masterful presentation skills to take the top prize at the 9th Annual
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Actress Malinda Williams Amplifies STEM Initiatives For HBCU Women
Jeroslyn JoVonn
August 23, 2024
Actress Malinda Williams is opening up about her natural passion for supporting STEM programs for HBCU women.
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HBCUs Make Strides In Medical Diversity With Abbott Scholars Programs
Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
July 22, 2024
HBCU programs foster generations of Black doctors, but initiatives like Abbott’s will allow more students to take part.
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Spelman College First HBCU To Offer Cosmetic Chemistry Program, A Win For Women In STEMÂ
Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
March 13, 2024
While noting an increased interest by students to enroll in the online program, the college also wants to help resolve a diversity need in the beauty industry.
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Hackathon Skill Preparation
Problem-solving
(ability to break down complex problems)
A programming language
(i.e., Python, Java, JavaScript, etc.)
APIs
(Creating and consuming web services)
Web development
(i.e., HTML, CSS, Frontend frameworks/libraries)
Version control
(Git/GitHub)