Contact: Thonnia Lee, Office of Strategic Communications
A Message to Tuskegee University Students from President and CEO Dr. Mark A. Brown
Dear Tuskegee Students,
In the coming weeks, many of you will have the opportunity to exercise one of the most important rights and responsibilities of citizenship: the right to vote.
Unfortunately, voter turnout drops dramatically in elections without a presidential race. In Alabama, voter turnout can fall from nearly 60 percent in presidential elections to roughly 37 percent in non-presidential election years. Think about that.
When only 37 percent of eligible citizens vote, a small portion of the population is making decisions for everyone else. They are helping determine who will make decisions about education, financial aid, healthcare, economic development, military affairs, infrastructure, public safety, and the countless state, local, and federal programs that affect your life every day.
Is that what you want? Or do you want your voice to be heard? Let me also share another reality: Recent election data show that approximately 65 percent of eligible White voters in Alabama participated in the election process, while only about 51 percent of eligible Black voters did so. Think about that as well.
Nearly half of eligible Black citizens chose not to exercise a right for which previous generations sacrificed, organized, marched, litigated, and fought. Regardless of your political views, when large numbers of people choose not to vote, others make decisions on their behalf.
The question is straightforward: Are you comfortable allowing someone else to determine your future, your opportunities, your community, and your government?
Or will you make your own voice heard? Let me be absolutely clear: Tuskegee University is not telling you who to vote for. We are not endorsing candidates. We are not endorsing political parties. We are encouraging you to participate in the process. We are encouraging you to vote.
Honoring a legacy
As Tuskegee men and women, you are not simply students attending a historic institution. You are the heirs of a remarkable legacy of leadership, service, citizenship, and courage.
Every day you walk the same campus once occupied by Dr. Charles Gomillion, a distinguished Tuskegee Institute professor, scholar, administrator, and Dean of Students. Many Americans learn about voting rights through history books. You live where that history was made.
In the 1950s, local officials attempted to redraw the boundaries of the City of Tuskegee in a way that removed nearly all Black voters from the city while preserving the voting strength of others. The goal was simple: silence citizens through political manipulation. Dr. Gomillion, a professor who taught and fought in the buildings you now occupy, refused to accept it.
A Tuskegee professor stood up. A Tuskegee professor organized. A Tuskegee professor challenged injustice. And a Tuskegee professor took the fight all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
In the landmark case of Gomillion v. Lightfoot, the Supreme Court ruled against racial gerrymandering and affirmed that governmental power could not be used to strip citizens of their voting rights.
The fight was not somewhere else. It happened here. It happened in Macon County. It happened in the community where you live and study today. The right you possess today was defended by one of our own.
So let me ask you a simple question: If Charles Gomillion fought all the way to the Supreme Court to protect your right to vote, will you take the few minutes necessary to exercise it?
Let your voice be heard
Do not allow anyone to assume that Tuskegee students are indifferent. Do not allow anyone to calculate that young people will stay home. Do not allow anyone to believe that the next generation will surrender a right that previous generations worked so hard to secure.
Instead, do what Tuskegee students have always done. Become informed. Study the issues. Evaluate the candidates. Think critically. Make your own decisions. Then vote.
Vote here in Alabama if you are registered here. Vote in your home state if that is where you are registered. Vote early. Vote absentee. Vote on Election Day. But vote!
Dr. Gomillion did not challenge injustice so that future generations could remain silent. He fought so that you would have a voice. The most meaningful way to honor his legacy is not simply to remember his story. It is to continue it.
As heirs to the legacy of Booker T. Washington, the Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks, Charles Gomillion, and countless other men and women who changed the course of American history, let us demonstrate that responsible citizenship remains one of the defining characteristics of a Tuskegee education.
When Election Day arrives, do not sit on the sidelines while others decide your future. Honor the legacy. Exercise the right. Use your voice.
See you on the yard and yes, I want to see you at the polls!
Dr. Mark A. Brown
President and CEO
Tuskegee University
© 2026 Tuskegee University
