The National Society of Black Engineers was founded in 1971 at Purdue University by Edward Barnette and Fred Cooper, who wanted to create a student organization to help improve the recruitment and retention of Black engineering students. The small group gained momentum a few years later in 1974, and six men emerged as the founders of NSBE — Anthony Harris, Brian Harris, Stanley L. Kirtley, John W. Logan, Jr., Edward A. Coleman, and George A. Smith.
Those men wrote to every accredited engineering program in the country, close to 300, and explained their vision — a desire to increase the number of Black engineers and help them achieve success in a competitive society. Almost 100 schools wrote back, and a date was set for the first national meeting of Black engineering students across the country. NSBE has since grown immensely, from six to over 31,000 members across almost 400 chapters at institutions spanning the nation. Here at UVA, the chapter consists of between 50 to 80 members who meet monthly as a group and hang out together informally. Meetings are sometimes professional, and members may work on resumes or applications together or study for classes. Others are social — members might get together for a movie night, often in 14 East, the Lawn room which has housed a Black engineering student for over three years now. In March, members attend the Annual National Convention, which hosts over 13,000 attendees across a couple hundred chapters at other universities. Emmanuel Kenscoff joined NSBE in his second year. Coming out of the pandemic, he was looking for a space on Grounds where he could make connections with other Black engineers, and NSBE was a perfect fit — it fills a specific niche that doesn’t exist elsewhere on Grounds, Emmanuel said. Last year, Emmanuel joined the executive board as the membership chair, and will serve as treasurer in the upcoming year. He went to the national conference, too, where he met employers and made connections that eventually helped land him his first job. “[NSBE] is a great opportunity for Black STEM students to increase their network and find a community across their four years. I’ve learned so much more about the Black community and why it’s so meaningful to me. It’s one of those orgs where you can make connections and really feel the impact of them.” Interested students can find NSBE on Instagram (@nsbeatuva), during the Fall Activities Fair or at The Source, the Black CIO fair.
Ava MacBlane
College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2024
English major, Spanish major (double-major!)