First Ever HBCU Hackathon Tour

Participating in a hackathon is a magical thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re a programmer, designer, marketer, or the person with all the ideas, everybody involved is motivated to put their heads together and create something awesome in an incredibly short amount of time. A hackathon can last anywhere from 24 hours to an entire weekend, and participants compete to create software, websites, and/or mobile apps. More importantly, participants learn how to communicate, think analytically, and solve problems—skills they can use if or when they decide to take their idea beyond the competition.

Unfortunately, many African-American students are not familiar with hackathons, and likely have never step foot in one. It’s that very reason Black Founders, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to promoting diversity in the technology industry, created a one-day hackathon event entitled HBCUHacks to raise awareness about hacking on historically black colleges and universities.

The first HBCUHacks event took place in Atlanta at Hypepotamus, an entrepreneurial startup and collaboration facility, on Feb. 8-9. Black Founders reached out to all the Atlanta University Center students, which include Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University, to participate.

The tour’s goal is to introduce students to what a hackathon is, get them to come up with several innovative ideas, split up into teams, create a product and pitch the product to win cash and prizes. Additionally, students will be introduced to local entrepreneurs and network with sponsors for possible internships and job opportunities.

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