Bethune-Cookman University Students March to Early Vote

Bethune-Cookman University,

On Monday October, 27 Bethune Cookman University, located in Daytona Beach, Florida bussed most of the 1,000 students from Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) to cast early ballots for the first time in their lives, the remaining students marched about 10 blocks to the Volusia County Library Center at City Island.

Students said they felt part of a tradition, eighty-eight years after school founder Mary McLeod Bethune once stood down dozens of Ku Klux Klansmen to ensure voting rights for about 100 black residents. B-CU President Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed canceled classes at the historically black university for the march. The nonpartisan march was organized by student leaders.

Following the march, the line stretched from the City Island library building down the sidewalk and all the way to Magnolia Avenue. Six buses took some of the students to the Supervisor of Elections office in DeLand to cut down on the wait.

Founded in 1904 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Bethune-Cookman University is an

B-CU Students – Photo: John Reeves

outstanding liberal arts university with a rich legacy. Through her pursuit of lifelong learning and social equity for all people, Dr. Bethune demonstrated that education was capable of democratizing society through civic engagement and academic excellence. Today, this legacy lives on in our students as they engage in voluntarism projects, service learning, and civic engagement projects that enhance effective citizenship.

Situated on what was once “Hell’s Hole,” the city’s garbage dump, in 1904, Mary

Photo: John Reeves

Jane McLeod Bethune founded Bethune-Cookman University, which now sits on more than 70 acres of prime Daytona Beach, Florida land in an ideal location providing easy access to business centers, theaters, museums, beaches, bus and air terminals, and recreational facilities. What a journey from a dump to a Dynasty!

ChocolateCity.cc/blogs want to commend the president, B-CU staffs, student leaders and the entire student body for a job well done.

If you were at the march or saw the march please share your pictures and or your views of the event.