Contact: Michael Tullier, APR, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing
As a result of a whopping 587,305 votes amassed through online and social media votes, Ƶ is among the $50,000 winners of this year’s The Home Depot “Retool Your School” competition.
The Tuskegee National Alumni Association led the eight-week social media-driven campaign — launched on Feb. 17 and extending through April 5 — that relied on tweets and Instagram posts using the #Tuskegee_RYS20 hashtag, and voting on the Retool Your School website.
“Tuskegee doesn’t take competitions lightly, and this year’s Retool Your School results are a testament to that,” said Burt Rowe, national president of the Tuskegee National Alumni Association. “It is amazing to see how students, alumni, employees and other friends of the university united in such a powerful way for the betterment of our campus and our students’ experiences.”
The TNAA-led partnership included the university’s Student Government Association, Pre-Alumni Council, Office of Facilities and Capital Projects, and Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing.
Based on input from SGA and Pre-Alumni Council representatives, the university will use the $50,000 prize money to create additional recreational and leisure seating throughout campus for students to enjoy. Outdoor seating areas around high-traffic walking areas and buildings, and additional patio-style tables at Margaret Murray Washington Hall, will be equipped with Wi-Fi, giving students spaces to study, read and socialize. The installation of these seating areas will occur this summer.
While competing among the other historically black colleges and universities in the competition’s Cluster 2 — schools whose enrollments range from 1,201 to 3,999 students — Tuskegee’s total votes represented more than 10% of the 5.7 million votes cast in the competition, ranking the university as the top vote-getter among the 54 institutions eligible to compete in year’s competition.
Established in 2010, The Home Depot’s “Retool Your School” program strives to give back to the nation’s HBCUs that have generously provided their communities with a strong foundation, a renewed purpose and a distinctive character. For more information about the program, visit .
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