There is nothing on the planet fairly like an HBCU homecoming.
The thrilling tailgates with pink Solo cups and good eats in abundance, the can’t miss halftime show (higher recognized as the fifth quarter), the feel-good brunches, the lit events, the impromptu Swag Surfin’ that can occur anywhere the temper hits, the energetic Divine 9 step reveals, the multigenerational magnificence of alumni chopping it up with present college students, the hugs that guarantee you although life is life-ing, everything is going to be alright. Oh…and the soccer recreation. The environment is equally empowering and non secular because in between all the joyous celebrations, we are reminded of the brilliance and tenacity of our courageous, visionary ancestors who constructed HBCUs more than a century in the past. The delight is palpable.
In honor of this joyous and celebratory time for our tradition, we’re honoring those {couples} who graduated from HBCUs, sometimes even on the same campus, and are now dwelling their best lives collectively. Our Love on the Yard sequence is an intentional and needed highlight on Black love, Black excellence and Black pleasure!
COUPLE: Candace & Kenneth Montgomery
COLLEGE ATTENDED: Hampton University
MAJORS: Candace: Psychology + Kenneth: Political Science
CLASS OF: Candace, 1996 + Kenneth, 1994
PROFESSIONS:
Candace: Experiential Architect
Kenneth: Lawyer
YEAR THEY BECAME A COUPLE: A very long time in the past but formally around 1996/1997.
Young Love (Photo courtesy of topics)
HOW IT ALL STARTED: Kenny: We began relationship for actual in 96/97 if my reminiscence is correct. We first met my freshman yr, launched by a mutual buddy while Candace was on a High School Day go to. She was stunning, but in high faculty and I was in the large leagues at that level; no relationship high faculty women. We formally met again on campus in the Student Union with associates and I saw the prettiest girl I had ever seen with her head deep in a e-book and large burgundy rimmed glasses. Like Fonzi from Happy Days, I despatched my boy Mark, who knew her, to inform her she was stunning.
Hampton Honeys (Photo courtesy of topics)
Candace: He’s proper, we met on my high faculty school go to and when we were launched he regarded down at me and barely acknowledged my presence. I was some younger child outside the membership, LOL. Fast ahead to the Student Union: When Mark came over and said, “My friend over there thinks you’re cute.” I regarded up to see Kenny standing there with that child-like grin I have come to know and love. I later saw him again at a social gathering with a buddy and we said hi there. He ripped off the high of a check paper that had an A+ on it and handed me his quantity. I thought to myself, nicely he’s good, my mother will like that.
The relaxation is historical past.
Party of 5! Candace and Kenny of the proud mother and father of three youngsters. (Photo courtesy of the topics)
WHAT THEY LOVE MOST ABOUT EACH OTHER: Kenny: I think what I love most about Candace is her stunning spirit; she is as stunning inside as she is outside, and she has a cheerful spirit. She is also actually goofy, humorous, tremendous clever, and has a very candy, intentional soul. I think she nearly always means nicely even when we disagree.
Candace: I love that Kenny makes me (us) really feel secure, our shared deep love for our moms, that he’s always evolving which evokes me, his large mind and that he stands firm in his convictions. I love his coronary heart, he cares deeply about his group; he will give his last to help someone; his last greenback, his time; whatever to help someone. He is also humorous and not too shabby to look at either (still swooning girls).
Just Married Bliss! (Photo courtesy of topics)
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DO YOU ATTEND HOMECOMING TOGETHER? Kenny: I have attended a handful of homecomings in the previous, but I’m not a frequent flyer. When I go, I actually worth the friendships lost due to time and distance. It feels like Groundhog Day sometimes. In our own means, many of my associates and I were sort of metropolis children from Brooklyn, Newark, and other Black city cities during a time when we were sort of anti-social to some of the beliefs that came with going to Hampton. Do not get me incorrect for one minute, though; the brotherhood, friendships, and my relationship with my spouse are pivotal in shaping my personhood and worth system.
Making Memories… (Photo courtesy of topics)
In many methods, my relationship with my spouse is a journey of high-level storytelling, with adversities and triumphs. As children, we both dreamed of having a future collectively through our own views of the world, and it truly occurred. Then we had to keep figuring it out while holding onto our own views and deliberately sharing them. What Hampton supplied was the space and time; we had to and have to do the work, though, to fill that time and space with intention, love, accountability, and a actual life, not some cliché life. Our relationship has helped me see that time isn’t actually linear; it’s captured in moments. Those moments Hampton supplied us were actually short to me but so significant. No, they were not like A Different World (LOL). They were actual. It was a secure space to be taught ourselves and each other. I hope younger people who are in love keep investing in each other and making an attempt to be taught from each other. I think too usually we stop investing in figuring out each other. I think Candace and I are still invested in that, and being children in school and in love gives us a heat mutual grounding.
All of the Lights: Candace + KenNY (Photo courtesy of topics)
Candace: I have gone to my truthful share of homecomings over the last few years and will be going this yr because it’s an anniversary yr. It’s a great way to see my associates. I love the vitality, the nostalgia, the reality that we all share something that feels like our group recharging itself in this secure contained space where it’s distinctive to us but we all perceive. I think the universe had plans for us and Hampton was clearly a stop on the roadmap of our lives. For that I am grateful. We have constructed a stunning life, not a fairytale but a large, noisy, sophisticated and enriched life anchored in love.
Passing the torch: Candace and Kenny’s eldest son Stone graduated from Hampton in 2025. (Photo courtesy of topics)
(Soak up even more HBCU Love on the Yard goodness here and here.)
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