Community Engagement & Strategic Initiatives

On October 3, 1904, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls with just $1.50, unwavering faith, and a vision to transform lives through education. What began with five young girls in a rented cottage has evolved into Bethune-Cookman University. This nationally recognized institution has graduated over 19,000 students, serving as a testament to the power of service, sacrifice, and social transformation.

Dr. Bethune's commitment to community engagement was not incidental to her educational vision—it was central to it. She believed that education must extend beyond the classroom walls to serve the immediate needs of the community. During the school's earliest years, students and faculty worked directly in Daytona Beach's underserved neighborhoods, providing health clinics, literacy programs, and economic development initiatives. Dr. Bethune herself modeled this commitment, serving as advisor to Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, founding the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, and dedicating her life to advancing civil rights and social justice.

President Trudie Kibbe Reed (2004-2012), the first woman to lead BCU since Dr. Bethune, elevated this commitment in 2005 by establishing the International Institute for Civic Participation and Social Responsibility, declaring that the institution would "reinvigorate the legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune for the 21st century" by training future civic, professional, and political leaders. Under her leadership, the university constructed the Michael and Libby Johnson Center for Civic Engagement and achieved university status in 2007. Today, under President Dr. Albert E. Mosley's "BCU Rising: All of Us All In" initiative, we continue this 120-year tradition of community engagement, positioning Bethune-Cookman University as an anchor institution committed to transforming Daytona Beach and beyond.