Popular headphone company Beats by Dre is teaming up with the Propel Center to create an innovative partnership, dubbed “Living in Legacy,” to help showcase the experiences of select HBCU undergraduates.
For the unaware, the Propel Center is an Atlanta-based initiative that’s “committed to transforming HBCU students into civic-minded leaders.” The Propel Center also offers a virtual platform that’s “accessible to every HBCU student located anywhere across America.”
Inspired by the Kente Cloth, @HowardU graduate designer Mia Moore (@xmi_amor) created a unique Studio3 Wireless as a “love letter” to the HBCU.
— Beats by Dre (@beatsbydre) March 7, 2022
Each student ambassador of the university’s @thepropelcenter will receive a pair in tribute to the rich legacy that they are creating. pic.twitter.com/RhK3slZS5W
Through this new partnership, HBCU students throughout the U.S. are encouraged to share their college experiences in a storytelling campaign, from which a “digital mosaic” of undergrad depictions will be crafted. Participants will also specifically discuss how they’re “Living in Legacy” and carrying on the torch of embodying HBCU culture.
Current Propel student ambassadors will assist in the process by nominating peers, conducting brief interviews, and ultimately deciding on who gets to create a minute-long entry. These hand-picked students will then be tasked with “tagging” a student from another HBCU to join the campaign “until at least one participating student from every Propel-partnering institution has been identified.”
Students selected to participate in the campaign will notably receive a new pair of Studio3 Wireless headphones designed by Howard graduate Mia Moore. Moore based her design on a Kente cloth and said she intended her work to be a “love letter” to HBCUs.
“Scholars attending HBCUs are some of the most creative, innovative and intellectual thinkers. This is evident through Howard University graduate designer Mia Moore, who has created a one-of-a-kind pair of Beats headphones that display the rich legacy of HBCUs, which has spanned for over 165 years,” Lead of Global Influence and Social Actions at Beats, Astor Chambers, said.
“The thoughtful curation created by Mia captures the colors that evangelize our community and speak volumes,” he added. “Her design aesthetic—yellow for growth, green for renewal, gold for power, red for passion and black for unity in ancestry—is the quintessential symbolism of who we are as an HBCU family.”
This partnership comes on the heels of the Propel Center teaming up with Apple to help provide a massive grant to one lucky HBCU in the Magnolia State. As Blavity previously reported, Jackson State University (JSU) received a $300,000 grant to help “leverage student success in arts and entertainment.”
“We will continue to maintain and sustain our legacy boldly and confidently through innovation and education. This is what we do at Propel. These hallmark sets of headphones are not just a beacon of who we are, what we are and what we do, but a symbol to the world… we are HBCU excellence,” Dr. Charles J. Gibbs, President of Propel’s HBCU Consortium, said.
