Contact: Crystal Drake, Office of Strategic Communications
Tuskegee University's Facilities & Built Environment Internship Program culminated with student capstone presentations showcasing eight weeks of experiential learning, community engagement, and innovative planning that celebrated Tuskegee University's Renaissance Era, drawing from the institution's historic legacy of using education, innovation, and community development as tools for transformation.
Created through a partnership between the Office of Facilities & Capital Projects, the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science (TSACS), and Tuskegee University's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Grant initiative through the HBCU Community Development Action Coalition (HBCU CDAC), the program provided students with hands-on experience in facilities management, architecture, construction science, environmental planning, historic preservation, GIS mapping, redevelopment planning, project management, facility assessments, and strategic planning.
Five TSACS students were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants to participate in the summer program, which began May 26:
- Nayomi Clark: a junior from Indianapolis, Indiana
- Chayla Cooley: a senior from Fayetteville, Georgia
- Nkosi McHardy: a senior from Atlanta, Georgia
- Desmond Leverett: a senior from Pennington, Alabama
- Angela Creppy: a sophomore from Kokomo, Indiana
Students presented highly-detailed outlines on a variety of projects from redevelopment of the Franklin Road corridor, to a reimagined Greenwood Village multipurpose concept, to healthier, more cost effective and environmentally-friendly campus-wide lighting systems, to updated and modernized evacuation plans for 10 campus locations. They explained that every project
“This internship shaped me both professionally and personally,” said Clark. “I learned that as a leader you have to adapt – and always learning, listening, collaborating, and finding solutions.”
“This was my first step into the professional world,” said McHardy. “It illuminated shadows I didn’t know existed as I was out on campus which is an environment that I learned functions like its own city.” He shared that his career goal as an architect is to support disaster relief, maybe one day working for NATO, to rebuild stronger communities in places around the world.
The students also noted how generous their faculty and staff mentors were with their time, expertise and institutional memory. That support deeply enriched their understanding and put their ideas into actionable context to improve safety, accessibility, and property value of existing spaces and environments on campus and throughout the community.
“Our number one goal through all of this work has been to reconnect the campus to the community,” said Cooley, capturing another hallmark of Tuskegee’s Renaissance Era – a recommitment to the symbiotic town and gown alliance that empowered Booker T. Washington and leaders who followed him to increase economic mobility for not just students but the entire community.
The immersive program highlights the role architecture has long played in that legacy. Booker T. Washington recruited Robert R. Taylor, the first Black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to help design and organize the campus. Taylor's work extended far beyond Tuskegee, influencing the development of schools and vital community spaces across the United States and abroad. From the Tuskegee-Rosenwald schools to the Booker Washington Institute in Liberia, the influence of Tuskegee-trained architects became a cornerstone of Black community development.
Dr. Mark A. Brown, Tuskegee’s president and CEO, joined the event and encouraged students to honor that legacy by addressing contemporary challenges in the built environment.
“Know who you are, where you come from and the debt owed to those who came before you,” he said, challenging them to see themselves as “architectural ambassadors” for the university’s work to bring new life to the resilient foundations of the university and its surrounding community.
Reflecting on a time when a more robust and thriving infrastructure existed in Tuskegee’s city center, Dr. Brown emphasized the responsibility and the power the students have as the future builders of communities.
“As architects, you will be designing the world we prefer, one that reflects and honors everyone’s right to live safely, comfortably and with dignity,” said Dr. Brown.
The internship, in its second year, has been a passion project for Tahja Ingram ‘12, Program Coordinator in the Office of Facilities & Capital Projects.
Ingram designed the program with the goal of giving students direct exposure to real-world decision-making and project implementation – Tuskegee requires all students to complete at least one internship to qualify for graduation— placing students alongside executive leaders, faculty, government agencies, consultants, and community stakeholders working on initiatives with long-term impact.
"Architecture and construction are ultimately about people, history, and community transformation," Ingram said. "The goal was to create opportunities for students to move beyond the classroom and become active contributors to Tuskegee's future while developing the leadership skills needed to serve their communities."
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