August 22, 2025
The 2025 BE Smart HBCU Hackathon returns for its 10th year and will be bigger and more impactful than ever.
The 2025 BE Smart HBCU Hackathon returns for its 10th year and will be bigger and more impactful than ever. Hosted by BLACK ENTERPRISE and presented by American Airlines, the Hackathon is an all-expenses-paid coding competition featuring students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), showcasing their computer science skills and competing for top-notch jobs and internships in the emerging technology field.
The Hackathon returns to Charlotte, Nov. 5 – 8, 2025, where the mayor of The Queen City will be joining to greet students from more than two dozen HBCUs. The competition will feature 300 students this year, from up to 30 HBCUs – more than ever in years past. Registration is now open through Sept. 15 at blackenterprise.com/hackathon.
Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., CEO of BLACK ENTERPRISE, is eager to invite HBCUs to register to compete as the Hackathon celebrates 10 years of innovation, elevation, and execution.
Competitors must be junior or senior computer science, computer engineering, and cybersecurity majors who form teams to develop technical solutions to solve real-world challenges. A panel of judges examines each team’s application impact, technical complexity, and user-friendliness while also rating teams on their pitch and presentation skills. A suite of prizes is offered for winners, including AAdvantage miles from American Airlines, savvy digital devices, and useful tech gear.
Sponsors for the 10th annual BE Smart Hackathon also include The City of Charlotte, Fidelity Investments, McDonald’s, Manulife John Hancock, NASCAR, Nationwide, PepsiCo, Toyota, Verizon, and Visa. This marks the largest Hackathon sponsor pool to date.
“I also want to take the time to applaud all of you for your unwavering commitment and partnership in our creation and expansion of platforms to showcase diverse talent and offer opportunities to future tech innovators and business leaders,” Graves said to partners and participants last fall. “I am so proud of our BE Smart Hackathon and its participants. It has met its goal of providing a showcase for HBCU students to display their technical expertise and gain exposure to the top companies in global business.”
The 2024 winning team was Protégé, comprised of Spelman College seniors Brianna Bray, A’laysia Miller-Chambliss, Morgan Lee, and Jasmine Singleton. The winning team received 100,000 AAdvantage miles from American Airlines, a MacBook Air, and a DJI Drones Mini 4 Pro.
Other top winners from last year included teams from Philander Smith University in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, who won second and third places, respectively. Receiving the judges’ highest technical score was Morgan State University, which is also the only HBCU to participate in all of the past nine years of the Hackathon.
Hackathon participants are truly living up to this year’s theme: “Built Different. Built Brilliant.” Join in on year ten of elevating excellence and register by Sept. 15 at blackenterprise.com/hackathon.
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