BATON ROUGE - From the bands to the dancers to homecoming, historically Black colleges and universities have played a significant role in Black culture for over a 100 years.

Orlando McMeans, Ph.D., the interim president of Southern University and chancellor of the Ag Center, knows all too well the impact an HBCU can have on a student's life. McMeans graduated from Alabama A&M University, a historically Black university located in Huntsville.

"The thing that I remember so much about Alabama is the culture, celebrating our authenticity and also who we are as African Americans and schools that actually started from most of the time as ex-slaves," McMeans said.

McMeans said these days, HBCUs are attracting more students because of the culture.

"A lot of HBCUs' freshmen class was a record this year. Mostly over 2500 to 3000 freshmen in a class, that's very unique for HBCUS," he said.

Many HBCUs refer to their campus as "The Yard", but do you know exactly where that term originated?

" For a very, very long time, the safest place for us Black people was our front yard, so our safe space, our HBCUs, are our safe space; therefore, it is the yard," Chair of the Southern University Alumni Network, Joy Jones said.

Southern University is the only HBCU system in the U.S. comprised of five distinct campuses with various missions: Southern University at New Orleans, Southern University Shreveport, Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Southern University Law Center, and Southern University Baton Rouge Campus.

"In America, we know that Black people are the minority, however places like HBCUs, places like Southern University, this is home, this is a safe haven for our students, where they don't have to worry about their race, their color, all they need to work about is their education and how to propel themselves forward in life," President of the Southern University Student Government Association Sean Inman said.

McMeans says HBCUs ought to be celebrated. He says if you go to any corporation, congress, or anywhere significant, you're going to find graduates from an HBCU.

"These schools have been and will continue to be vital to our society," he said.

Jones said if you do not know what an HBCU is, she highly recommends you find out.

"Ask those probing questions, go and visit your local HBCU cause I guarantee there is one, maybe in the 5, 10, 20 miles from you, if it's not Southern University, just find one," Jones said.