The convention that changed conventions

In 2022, Armstrong, Artis and Jean-Baptiste attended the NSBE 48th Annual Convention in Anaheim, California, and were deeply inspired by being surrounded by people who came from a similar background and were pursuing similar career goals. The convention also provided them with important networking and professional development opportunities. Overall, the experience showed the trio the power, scale and community of NSBE. 

“After witnessing roughly 13,000 Black engineering students all in one place, fighting for the same sort of commitment and cause towards the organization, we wanted to replicate that exact same sort of unity and family here on campus,” said Jean-Baptiste, who majored in civil engineering.

“[The national conference] is an eye opening experience,” said Armstrong, a biomedical engineering graduate. “The first convention that I attended, I went from being one of few to seeing Black excellence everywhere”

During the 2022-2023 school year, Armstrong, Artis and Jean-Baptiste, who comprised the UD chapter’s executive board, were able to recruit new members by sharing their success stories from the NSBE conference with prospective students. Another growth strategy involved creating a point system to track chapter meeting attendance and provide incentives related to their ability to attend the national conference based on member attendance. 

“As soon as things started to open up again — and all the credit is to the students my job is to make sure that they’re supported — they started being really ambitious about putting on events, getting out there, going to the National Conference, going to the regional conference and starting to build up a body of students who were interested,” Hewlett said. 

The UD chapter of NSBE continued to grow throughout the school year. Along with recruiting new student members, the chapter also became more involved at the regional level with UD students serving terms on the NSBE Region Two executive board. The chapter even earned the Small Chapter of the Year award for the 2022-2023 school year due to its engagement with the local zone summits, regional conference and national conference.

A powerful partnership

The students’ ambitions were fostered by support at all levels, including the very top, as Thompson was instrumental for the chapter’s post-COVID growth. 

It started with Armstrong getting a spot on Thompson’s calendar. The two were instantly able to bond over being NSBE members, and Thompson wanted to help the organization. Starting in 2022, the NSBE leadership has had monthly meetings with Thompson where they would discuss fundraising, strategy and problem-solving. 

“I am so proud of our NSBE chapter and its leadership,” Thompson said. “My interest is professional and personal. The work that NSBE does advances our strategic priority to foster inclusive and collaborative classrooms, labs and workplaces. I have been a member of NSBE since my time as an undergraduate student here at UD. I continue to be personally committed to supporting its mission here and nationally.”

“I think getting the support from the top of the college was able to reflect downward,” Armstrong said. “When we’re saying, ‘We need funding,’ we had the top guy advocating for us, and he still is advocating for us.”

Thompson’s support for NSBE’s growth opened doors for the students; he taught them how to secure funding through writing grants, enabling more NSBE members the opportunity to attend the national conference. The chapter was able to raise over $30,000 during the past two years and used that money for 31 UD students to attend NBSE50, the organization’s 50th annual national convention, last spring. 

Along with providing administrative guidance, Thompson is an important mentor who takes time to develop relationships with each member of the executive board. 

“Now we have freshmen and sophomores running [for the executive board], and they’re saying, ‘The seniors have jobs or they’re going to grad school, and they’re casual with the dean — we want to be like that,’” Armstrong said. “We set this level, and now there’s more people eager not just to help themselves but to help others. I think establishing what excellence looks like allows us to grow,” 

“Dean Thomspon has been instrumental in our growth the past couple of years,” added Artis, who studied computer science. “I knew he was involved in our chapter, but I didn’t know we would be able to form relationships on a one-on-one level. Deans or certain school administrators are often hard to approach, but Dean Thompson is very open and inclusive to all of us.”

The future of NSBE at UD

On top of everything else, Thompson has also started a new tradition for the UD chapter: NSBE alumni dinners. The chapter hosted its second annual alumni dinner last spring, with around 15 alumni attending the event. Executive board members are continuing to find creative ways to engage with the NSBE network so that students can gain even more organizational support.

To celebrate its success, the chapter hosted a Growth and Gratitude banquet in May. The evening’s events included a catered dinner, speeches from executive board members reflecting on their experiences in NSBE and their excitement for the organization’s future, as well as a keynote address from College of Engineering Dean Levi Thompson who reflected on the evolution of UD NSBE since he became a member in the 80s, describing the tremendous respect he had for everyone who had contributed to the organization’s growth.

“For me, the gala is a really good conclusion to this chapter of my book, but it’s really the start for the rest of the organization and the rest of the chapter here at UD,” Jean-Baptiste II said. “There’s so many growing students and growing leaders within this organization that are going to take over when us seniors leave. It’s a milestone towards something that can be really big.”

Along with hosting the Growth and Gratitude banquet and alumni dinner, the UD chapter is also working hard alongside Thompson so that more students can have the empowering, eye-opening experience of attending the NSBE national conference. 

“I am determined to continue to attend these conferences and expand my knowledge and network to make new connections that will benefit me post graduation,” Vaneill Asobo, a junior biomedical engineering major and 2024-2025 NSBE UD executive board member, said about attending the 2023 fall regional conference. “Thankfully, the University of Delaware’s NSBE chapter has provided me with these opportunities for minority students like myself. I’m appreciative of educated Black engineers to guide me through my college career and into my professional career.” 

Incoming members are eager to have their own NSBE success story in which they build their network and find career opportunities through the organization. The chapter’s future is bright; Armstrong, Jean-Baptiste and Artis are passing the torch to talented and capable new leadership.

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